Drama Incorporated
by Reclamation
Summary: A story starring Shikamaru as a lazy office worker in London, who falls for the beautiful new staff member on his floor; Ino. Also follows the lives of his friends and rivals. Swearing and nudity. C&C most welcome!
1. Fresh Air

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It will centre around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the events that happen to him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong><span>Drama Incorporated.<span>**

**Chapter 1 – Fresh Air**

In the midst of a vibrant city a massive pillar of glass and steel speared into the sky, catching the afternoon sun on its sharp apex and blinding all who dared look at its summit. This titanic blade-shaped monolith was the headquarters of a huge corporate multinational and an entire empire of commerce was controlled and orchestrated from its sleek, modern interior. Whether it was investment banking, high-powered legal disputes, military contracts or assimilating smaller entities into its vast spread, wherever there was money, so to were the tendrils of this huge conglomerate.

Around halfway up this behemoth of a building, on the 36th floor to be exact, a perpetually active hive of work was to be found. Yet here, in amongst the most driven young businessmen of a generation sat a distinctly still person.

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><p>Shikamaru Nara sat back in his swivel chair, idly drifting from side to side of his cubicle. He was a twenty-five year old of average height, with a bored yet solemn face and a wiry frame which belied the toned muscle that lay under his suit. With his mid-length black hair tied up out of his way in a coarse tuft, he could easily be considered attractive, but for that assessment to be made he would have to be noticed, and with his carefree and lazy demeanour he found it easy to allow a woman's gaze to go straight through him, as if he were invisible.<p>

The young man had a telephone wedged in the crook of his neck with his head tilted over to hold it in place, and allowed the man on the other end of the line to drone on endlessly, while he stared off across the busy office and out of the window, seemingly intent on a aimless cloud which listed slowly by in the clear sky.

His eyes were suddenly jerked away from the sight, when the sun glinted viciously off the burnished window frame and into the office, forcing Shikamaru to drag his sight back to the sprawling spreadsheet before him, blinking with the sudden strain as he did so. There was silence on the phone, and he realised that his input was required.

"Yeah…..that sounds….fine…" He muttered and stifled a yawn as the chatter on the line started up again. Vaguely wondering what he'd just agreed to, he tabbed out of the meaningless screed of the spreadsheet and over to a specialist car parts site, and began trawling through endless items, each more complex than the last, scouring his way through for a specific something, his eyes glinting with the first genuine interest of the day.

After deciding that what he needed wasn't available on the website he closed the browser, to look this time at a 3-D design tool, where an exploded view of an old American muscle car rotated on the screen, dragged this way and that by Shikamaru's deft finger work on the mouse. To the left of the screen was a list of unintelligible car parts; some green to signify that they had been purchased; some grey to show that they were in transit; and the vast majority in red, to show that no work had been started on them at all.

The tired looking man had inherited this rusted old husk of a car when his father had passed away, whose labour of love it had been to slowly restore it back to its prime. When he had died, the monumental task had fallen to his only son Shikamaru, who allowed him self a small amount of money and time each week to work on the beast, painstakingly nursing it into something resembling a working machine.

Shikamaru was a vast intelligence, and knew that the sheer scale of work set before him could never hope to be completed in the timescale he had set for himself, but carried on steadily regardless. He knew with regret that he would have little else to look forward to at work if he didn't have the beat-up old machine crying out for his attention each weekend, and was content with the miniscule progress he made each time he visited her.

"So I'll meet your boss to discuss this in detail on the 12th then?" came the first clear sentence all phone-call down the line expectantly. _The 12__th__? That's in two days… what a drag… _thought Shikamaru, realising that he didn't even know who he'd have to tell his boss they were meeting with.  
>"Sure." he drawled, still annoyed at having made more work for himself, and feeling relief as the flat dial-tone signalled the end of the call. "Typical." he muttered as he looked down at his watch in disbelief. "As if a two hour phone wasn't bad enough."<p>

* * *

><p>After grabbing a late lunch to avoid the queues, Shikamaru slumped back into his office space, and sent off a few quick email replies, barely paying attention to what had been written. He was smart enough to look over a piece of writing and deduce the best response for ending the dialogue swiftly, to save him grief in the future. Barely ten minutes of real work had gone by before the dark haired man had given up, and started looking back at his pet-project, specifically the radiator he had been trying to get working in recent weeks. He had barely begun to make a plan in his head for how to proceed, when he was startled from his reverie by a bright voice, full of wonder, which sounded over his shoulder.<p>

"Wow! That's really detailed! How long have you been working on that?"

Collecting himself and turning around to face the interruption, he found himself nearly touching an attractive, young, blonde girl face-to-face.

She was dressed in a crisp white shirt with wide lapels folded out over her form-hugging grey jacket and her lustrous hair flowed down her back in a ponytail, and in thin strand down the left of her face, framing her kind blue eyes spectacularly. A matching shapely, grey skirt completed the ensemble and even the normally unflappable Shikamaru couldn't help but note her body appreciatively.

She had stepped back murmuring a soft apology, suddenly aware of how awkward her proximity to Shikamaru had been, before carrying on.

"I'm sorry for prying… I couldn't help noticing it over your shoulder as I walked in." Shikamaru was still a little shocked from the sudden entry, and merely gave a nervous smile, before she continued. "Anyway, I'm just coming round to see if anyone wanted a warm drink… I was off to make a pot of tea and-"

"I'm fine thanks." Interrupted the young man, not unkindly, but far too briskly, and he could tell he'd put the blonde off. _What's wrong with me? _He thought to himself, not fully understanding what had rattled him so much. By the time he'd resolved to apologise and introduce himself, the young woman had already turned and begun to leave his pokey little cubicle, and it was with a stutter that he sprung to his feet and called to her to stop.  
>"S…sorry Miss…" he tailed off as he realised he'd not even asked her name.<p>

"Yamanaka… Miss Yamanaka." she said as she turned to look over her shoulder at the flustered young man before her. Her face softened when she saw his discomfort, and she added kindly, "but Ino's fine…" before moving on serenely.

"Shikamaru." he spoke quietly afterwards, and she raised a hand as she walked to show that she'd heard. He sank back into his chair, perspiring a little from the stressful situation he'd inadvertently created, and inhaled deeply whilst leaning back on his chair. He was surprised then by the fresh, natural, almost spicy scent that hung in the air where she had just stood. She smelled like the outdoors, he realised with a start, like the crushed pine needles that had rustled under his feet in the forest where his father used to take him hunting as a boy

"Ino." he whispered, tasting the sound of the name on his tongue. He turned back to his desk, with just the very corner of his mouth tugging upwards in a brief smile. Perhaps there's hope for this damn job yet…

* * *

><p>As he pulled his chair back toward his immaculate desk an infinitely friendly voice heralded the arrival of Shikamaru's oldest friend and colleague.<p>

"Quite something huh?" the chubby 25 year old exclaimed in quiet admiration as he sauntered into the cubicle. "We could do with a few more like that around on this floor you know… What do you think then?" he asked eagerly. Shikamaru turned to look at Choji Akimichi, a friend he'd made when he was barely five years old and kept close ever since. Messy brown hair sprung up in unruly tufts from his friend's distinctly round face, and his eyes sparkled in perpetual good cheer.

"She's a human being Choji." Shikamaru admonished gently, "You shouldn't stare like you did… She's not a piece of meat!" The irony was not lost on him however, as he realised that he'd been doing exactly what he'd told Choji off for up until right before his portly friend had entered. He was torn from his introspection however, when a second man appeared to the left of the first. Kiba Inuzuka was taller than his overweight companion, and burly with it. Not insignificant muscle was trapped under a pale, blue shirt with sleeves rolled up nonchalantly. The newcomer had his hands stuffed into his neatly pressed trousers, and a jovial smirk lighting his face as he leant on the cubicle divider before speaking.

"I'm gonna have to disagree there Shikamaru. I'm afraid 'piece of meat' is exactly the right expression for Miss Yamanaka… Fresh for the grinder!" he chuckled gleefully at his wordplay before continuing, "We'll see if she's still wearing that smile after a few weeks working up here. She was promoted from that 'kindergarten' on 7th just this morning… hasn't even met the boss yet." Choji snorted at that final remark before muttering,

"Hmmm, wouldn't mind being in the same boat myself to be honest… what a man-eater!" This assessment got the two of them laughing, and even Shikamaru added a brief snap of mirth at the comment but his grin swiftly slipped as he noticed who had just entered at the far side of the office. His pair of friends quickly noticed the change in mood from within the cubicle and followed the young man within's stern gaze towards the newcomers just exiting the lifts in the corner.

"That looks like trouble." grimaced Kiba, becoming serious at once. "I wonder what's brought Uzumaki and Uchiha down from their thrones on 37th..."

* * *

><p>If Shikamaru had been asked to describe the pair that had just entered in the form of a metaphor, he would have likened them to a haughty upper-class man and his faithful hound. The spiky blonde head of Naruto Uzumaki nearly always slouched along behind the shock of jet black hair that hung around Sasuke Uchiha's face.<p>

The glowering young man couldn't deny that Uchiha was handsome; ludicrously so in fact, yet he possessed pride and arrogance to match, traits which everybody managed to ignore, failing to see the disdain that Shikamaru could watch oozing from Sasuke's every pore. He wore his dark-blue, tailored suit with distaste as well, looking down on everyone from his classical, pale features with dark eyes. He was a department manager on the floor above the three watchful friends, a position he never failed to use to his advantage, and Uzumaki was his loyal underling, ever faithful, ever present.

Shikamaru turned to Naruto now, seeing another undoubtably attractive man following his superior into the office, with a look that would be more appropriate if he were entering a filthy barn. Where Uchiha was stern and guarded, Uzumaki was loud and open, speaking his mind plainly like a spoiled schoolboy.

It bewildered Shikamaru how so many people had been sucked into the allure of the despicable pair, but the evidence was all there in front of him. As they stood by the water fountain, a sizable crowd of people had already gathered around them to chatter idly, and attempt to curry favour with these two business heavyweights. Uchiha was mobbed by fawning male and female staff alike, but spoke little, preferring to let his entourage answer their questions amongst themselves. Naruto on the other hand, was far less calculating, flirting shamelessly with a small group of women who swooned around him as he sat at-ease on someone's desk.

Normally Shikamaru would've been content to smirk at this performance and then carry on the day, but not this time. This time he spied someone who made his heart sink. Carefree and smiling, Ino was walking directly through the mob to get to the office's small staff kitchen, and Uzumaki had already spotted her.

"Looks like we won't have to wait for her to meet the boss for her to lose that smile huh Kiba?" said Choji softly. "Getting harassed by those bastards will see to it shortly." and the taller man's grunt of reply was almost a growl as he looked on through his thatch of messy brown hair.

Shikamaru knew better though. This wasn't the first time he'd met a staff member who seemed nice. There had been plenty of those in his three year tenure with the company, but it had never come to anything, purely because of the duo by the water fountain. All it would take as she walked by would be a few choice words from Naruto, or perhaps even a glance from Sasuke, and she'd be smitten just like so many before her. Even as he thought this, he saw the leery blonde spy her shapely form edging through the pack and even caught the normally stoic Uchiha stealing a glance. Shikamaru mentally braced himself for the disappointment and watched on in mute disgust as Uzumaki went one further than his expectations.

Ino had just gently elbowed her way through the last of the simpering pack, and was nearly in the open, when Naruto had reached out and given the new staff member a firm slap on the right buttock.

Shikamaru watched on, enraptured. He'd never seen Uzumaki go this far before, but still knew what would come next with the sickening detail of past experience. The girl would turn at the contact, shocked, and upon seeing who'd perpetrated it, smile demurely, then turn and carry on her way with the seeds of attraction already planted in her.

To give her credit, Ino Yamanaka did hold to the formula in one aspect, as she glided off smiling shyly, but the resounding slap had startled everybody in the office into silence, and the red mark on Naruto's face had been delivered with such force that it would be an ugly blackened bruise by the next morning.

Grinning despite himself, Shikamaru looked on as his friend's disbelieving, ecstatic faces swung back to him. Gazing onwards past them again, he caught the smiling girl's eye with admiration and approval writ large across his features, and Ino had beamed back, just for a moment, as if to say, 'That felt really good!' before she passed behind the high walled offices at the end of the room, and left his sight.

Still smiling, Shikamaru stood and lifted his suit with one finger from the back of his chair to hang it over his shoulder. Meanwhile Kiba uttered what had become his 5 o'clock catchphrase with alarming accuracy considering he hadn't even checked his watch.

"I could do with a pint after that!" he smiled, fully aware of his predictability.

"For once Kiba, you won't have to drag me along with protests ringing in your ears." said Shikamaru grinning. "I think we could all do with a drink while we fully process what just happened! Jiraiya's?"

"Yeah, Jiraiya's." answered Kiba, looking to Choji for the third vote of confidence in the plan. The chuckling man obliged him contentedly.

"Jiraiya's."

* * *

><p>I have material sketched out for at least 10 more chapters, but I can see myself continuing on to 20 overall.<br>Once again, C&C is really welcome, and I hope you check in a few days from now to read chapter 2!

In addition, I also wrote and published a NaruSasu one-shot story recently and I welcome any comments you might have on that as well...  
>Thanks in advance if you take the time out to read it here: .nets/7402321/1/bA_b_bDay_b_In_The_bSun_b  
>It's mainly written as a bit of light entertainment, so don't take it serious... at all!<br>I hope it proves to be a diverting few minutes if nothing else.


	2. Haze

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong><span>Drama Incorporated.<span>**

**Chapter 2 - Haze**

As the orange sun began to dip behind the high-rise skyline, casting a pastel pall over the early evening of the city, four figures ambled slowly along the pavement. They were carefree, just enjoying one another's company and the journey out in the fresh air with no deadlines or obligations hanging over them.

Kiba walked effortlessly ahead, his height, and therefore longer legs carrying him easily along, at a slowed pace to allow the others to keep up. He joined in the conversation enthusiastically, shouting jokes and mock insults over his shoulder as he lead the group towards their destination; Jiraiya's Bar. Lagging slightly behind the others came Choji. Despite his excess weight, it wasn't fitness that slowed him down, merely an enjoyment of the sweet, chilled air in his lungs, a much needed panacea from the bland, recycled oxygen of the group's workplace.

Then, in between the slacker and the scout, came a couple. The tall, lean form of Shikamaru with hands calmly in his pockets, linked on one side to a pretty girl of smaller height and pale, pink hair. Sakura Haruno was as close and old a friend of Shikamaru's as Choji, the boys having joined the same school as her one year later than they themselves had first met. Her head rested softly on his shoulder as they walked, but it was contact born of familiarity and honest companionship rather than of romance. Such feelings had never been explored between them, and there was no need either, since they had grown so close that it would be like dating a family-member.

Conversation between the four people was frequently lewd, as talk between firm friends often is, but there was no inherent malice in it, just a sense of good fun. Sakura contributed some of the more risqué comments of the evening herself, in tones that would have shocked anyone who didn't know the young woman well. In truth, she was far more comfortable in the company of men, and was naturally considered 'one of the boys' by the other three as a matter of course. They had called for her to meet them outside the office once they had decided on a destination, and had joined with her soon after, to wander out to their drinking establishment of choice.

A flickering neon sign simply stating 'Bar' just around the corner signalled the end of their twenty minute jaunt, and as they rounded the bend they saw Kiba duck into the doorway well ahead of the main group, calling back to say he was getting the first round for them. After a short walk longer the three remaining people also disappeared from the streets, as they were welcomed into to Jiraiya's bar by the warm glow from through the archway, and the dull buzz of contented chatter emanating from within.

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><p>No sooner had Shikamaru's eyes adjusted to the heady, orange lighting of the bar's interior, than they had given him something to smirk at. Over on the bar Kiba lay sprawled out, his legs dangling loose on the customers' side, and his torso hanging over the other busily pulling a pint. He was muttering something under his breath, and Shikamaru noticed with a second smile the words 'lazy' and 'tosser' alighting Kiba's lips with alarming frequency.<p>

"You really should be paying him for doing your job for you you know Jiraiya!" called Choji over the clamour, causing a man with an immense growth of pure white hair to sit up straight to peer over the bar in irritation. Standing when he realised who had spoken, the 50 year old in his bedclothes and a vibrant red dressing gown scowled and retorted.

"Should've known this dog would bring his whole bloody pack, shouldn't I?" his weather-beaten, leathered face crinkling into what only Shikamaru recognised as an almost imperceptible smirk. Maintaining the façade of a frown, the older man continued. "You assholes always come crawling back…"

"And it's your job to make sure we leave crawling as well! Get up and man the pumps you lazy git!" quipped Sakura, causing the aging barman's face to crack into what passed for grin from him. It was always the same spiel with Jiraiya. He gave off the image of a cantankerous old man to most people so that he avoided having to work, but give as good as you got in the conversation and he'd be your firm friend for life, so long as you never made him do more than the barest minimum.

He shoved Kiba bodily from the bar and finished pouring the drinks while the young man untangled himself from the barstool he'd fallen on, swearing colourfully as he did so.

"Evening Neji." Said Shikamaru after taking his first sip of cool, bitter ale from the perspiring glass presented to him from Jiraiya's calloused, brown hands. As he waited for a response, he took several further draughts from his drink, having not realised how parched he was. After a brief pause, the man at the far end of the bar stirred, and nodded from under his loose, dark hair at the group out of storm-grey eyes.

He turned back to Jiraiya after a moment and motioned for another glass of whiskey. The barman grumbled, but obliged him. No tricky wordplay or bravado was required from Mr. Hyuga. He was a quiet, serious man who gave off a palpable aura of command, and when he asked for something, it got done very quickly. His friendship was a boon to the four of them since he was the director of the 37th floor; Uchiha and Uzumaki's superior, and therefore able to keep them in check most of the time. Far more valuable to them than this however, was his logical attitude, and ability to distil advice from even the most hopeless of situations; when he decided to speak at all that is.

"I'll get that for him." said Sakura, wandering over to sit on the stool adjacent to Neji, and began to coax him into an incredibly quiet conversation. Meanwhile, Kiba had finally risen to his feet, and after downing the vast majority of his drink and letting out a resounding 'Ahhh', put a question to the white-haired man before him.

"If you're so fucking lazy, why haven't you found someone to work under you yet?" It was a good question, thought Shikamaru in earnest, since it was common knowledge that Jiraiya was hardly doing poorly in terms of money.

"That's obvious…" snorted Choji, "If that old perv went looking for someone to work under him, he'd be expecting them to literally work 'under' him!" The joke went down well, and even stern Jiraiya was grinning again whilst he answered.

"If you're gonna insist on being that nosey Inuzuka, it'll interest you to know that I've got someone starting on Monday." He smirked then and added, "And she is quite a 'looker' as well!" He stared around triumphantly as though that was something to be infinitely proud of, before being cut short by Kiba's response.

"Well good for you Jiraiya." he said magnanimously whilst adding in an undertone, "You old Lech!" and before anyone could argue, pulled himself a second pint, and led the group off to sit down in a free booth. Shikamaru nodded his thanks to the grumpy barman, and noticed the tell-tale twinkle in his eye that told him Jiraiya had heard Kiba's extra comment perfectly.

* * *

><p>It was midnight by the time Shikamaru stumbled back out into the clear air, which had dropped by several degrees since they had arrived, making it unpleasantly chilly after the cosiness of the bar. He still had the warm glow of inebriation to hold onto at least, but that was small respite considering how bad he knew he would feel come the morning. He turned to see the others emerge from the glowing doorway, and he moved to lean on a lamppost, as much to keep from swaying as to make room for the new arrivals.<p>

First was Kiba, already lighting a cigarette and humming softly, along with Choji, who had drunk obscene amounts of alcohol without even showing the slightest sign of being intoxicated. Shikamaru took a while to process who stepped out into the cold next, before joining his friends in chortling at the state of Sakura, who was standing only by Neji's aid.

Choji laughed the loudest, and Shikamaru turned to him questioningly.

"I still don't understand you…" he began, before being cut off.

"I know! That quantity of cider could've floored a rhino! I mean, I can live with you not getting drunk… It's when you don't have decency to feel as shit as us in the morning that I get annoyed!" bellowed Kiba, with smoke curling out of his mouth like a bizarre moustache. "Urhh… this tastes like ass…" he added, rumbling out a low cough.

"Plenty of experience in that department I'm sure Kiba." Choji said wryly before addressing the pair of them. "I dunno what to tell you guys… I guess I've just got more space to put it all!" He patted his prominent stomach and turned on his heel to leave, waving over a shoulder as he did so.

Soon after streaming off a list of goodbyes, Shikamaru also trudged off into the gloom, leaving the others to disperse in their own time. He felt most sorry for Neji, who lived in Sakura's direction and whose burden it would be to carry her home, since she was barely able to stand.

_Scratch that, _he thought to himself, _I feel most sorry for me… _wincing as another brief throb of pain juddered through the front of his head, foreshadowing the morning to come.

"Next time I'll tell Kiba to shove his 'one last pint' up his arse…" he resolved in an undertone, correcting his course by deflecting off a bright telephone box, to which he promptly apologised.

* * *

><p>After struggling with the lock for nearly a whole minute, Shikamaru finally completed his journey home and felt his way into the darkened apartment. He lived in a vast flat, with a minimalist, impersonal décor that his flatmate favoured, and Shikamaru detested. It seemed cold and alien, but since his flatmate paid the overwhelming majority of the rent, the staggering young man felt he had no right to impose design changes on his friend.<p>

Resting an arm on the back of an expansive, leather couch he turned and attempted to throw his keys into the bowl by the door, watching on with dismay as his shot went to too far and slid down behind the cabinet on which the bowl rested.

"Shit…" he mumbled, as he allowed himself to flop over the back of the sofa, and onto the soft upholstery on the far side.

Kicking off his shoes and dragging a woollen throw from the backrest of the couch, he cocooned himself, desperate to get back to an acceptable temperature in the gloom.

He lay still, in the first silence since his arrival, and noticed a muffled moan of pleasure from the far room down the corridor and grinned to himself. _I wonder where he picked this one up, _he thought contemplatively, as his eyes drifted shut and he began to fall asleep somehow, despite the way the room still seemed to be spinning behind his translucent lids.

* * *

><p>He woke up around an hour later, although he wasn't aware of the time, when he heard the clinking of ice dropping into a glass. Looking across the open-plan main room, to the fridge on the far side, Shikamaru winced as a shaft of light from an open door burnt into his retinas.<p>

His gaze painstakingly adjusted to alight on a remarkably attractive woman who was making a drink over on the kitchen counter. She had made a glass of iced water, which she sipped gracefully, and was now pouring a small glass of whiskey. She wore a man's robe that was open at the front, and Shikamaru's mouth went dry as his eyes slowly traced her curvature; her heavy chest rising and falling, the pleasing arc of her rear under the gown, and the neat patch of hair between her legs.

She noticed him then with alarm, but calmed immediatly, placing the drink down and tying off the front of the robe, somehow only accentuating her voluptuous form.

In the brief pause that followed he noticed her flowing hair, far too red to be natural, and realised with a start that he had won a bet. Choji had asserted that the woman would have blonde hair tonight, with a theatrical voice that suggested otherworldly assistance in coming to his conclusion. Shikamaru had disagreed, by this time with far too much beer on board to make a sensible bet, and had set his money on a redhead. Finally that was shot down in turn by Kiba, who had yelled, 'Bullshit, she'll be a brunette tonight! I've got a feeling!'

Jerking out of the daydream and back to the beauty before him, Shikamaru fervently hoped that his appraising glance had come off as glazed, drunken stare, but soon found that he needn't have worried.

"Sorry I woke you." She said as though nothing had happened. "He didn't mention he had a flatmate."

"Uhh yeah…" managed Shikamaru, before apologising himself "Sorry." Through bleary eyes he saw her lips twist in a pleased smile, like she was satisfied with the exchange, before she whisked the glasses from the worktop and padded away over the carpet.

The drowsy man on the couch couldn't help but watch her leave, then sighed with relief as the crack of light snapped off and the door closed behind her, bringing a blessed respite to his straining eyes. Shutting them now and rolling onto his other side, Shikamaru grinned in the darkness at the unexpected show he had just witnessed.

"I should sleep on the couch more often…"

He was stopped from dropping off to sleep right there and then, by the shock realisation that he hadn't been entirely joking about his muttered idea after all.

"Fuck." He swore, berating himself.

"I need to get laid…"

* * *

><p>So, all but two of the main cast have been introduced and the story will start to unfold over the next few installments.<br>C&C is still very much welcome and I hope you all come back for more in a few day's time!


	3. Bets & Threats

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 – Bets &amp; Threats<strong>

Shikamaru awoke to laughter. Cracking his eyes open a little and looking around for the source of the excruciating sound, he found himself looking up at the smirking face of his roommate who was perched on the back of the sofa on which Shikamaru lay, with his legs forming a sort of bridge over his body.

The groaning man on the couch lifted himself up to his elbows, before utterly regretting the decision as his whole world span in front of him, his vision swimming in a mess of indistinct colours and blurs. It was only several moments later that the stomach-churning rotation abated, and Shikamaru realised that the peals of laughter hadn't slowed at all throughout his discomfort.

"Shut up…" he croaked weakly, allowing his head to loll backwards loosely. "Or just finish me off…"

"Not likely. This is far too funny to miss out on." Came a soft voice, at odds with the incessant chuckling that had come before. "Haven't you learnt not to listen to Kiba yet?"

"He's very… persuasive." Replied Shikamaru unconvincingly.

"Bull. He called you a pussy and you just had to prove him wrong by drinking too much to show how manly you are. The guy should be a damn psychologist, the way he plays you…"

"Yeah, maybe you're right." said Shikamaru, smiling blithely. "Made for a fun night though…"

"Fun _working_ night." Corrected his flatmate from above him, his tone and volume never wavering as he spoke. His voice was a blessing to the hung-over. "And now I have to get you to work. Sit up and drink this. Hair of the dog…"

Shikamaru finally managed to focus on his friend and the drink that was proffered to him. Over him was a man of average height dressed in an immaculate, tailored suit, and the drink was a cloudy red Bloody Mary. Short black hair stood straight up on his scalp, and his eyes were covered by circular black sunglasses, which he wore despite the low morning light seeping in through the blinds.

"I seriously doubt that will help Shino." He muttered dismissively, turning away.

"That's because you've never tried it. Trust me." Said Shino with an undercurrent of force that brooked no argument creeping into the edges of his solemn voice. Shikamaru relented, knowing a defeat when he saw one, and gulped down the fiery concoction in two large swallows. _Shino's right yet again, _he thought as perversely, the liquid burning down his throat made him feel better, imbuing fresh warmth to his aching limbs.

"That's more like it." Whispered Shino encouragingly.

Vision swiftly clearing, Shikamaru nodded his thanks as he stood tentatively, before gaping at the pair emerging from the corridor that led off to Shino's room. There was the stunning redhead he'd seen earlier in the morning, now wearing a black cocktail dress, then trailing behind her, an identical woman dressed in a similarly skimpy outfit.

Turning to Shino with disbelief etched into his bleary features, he noticed the shadow of a smile playing across his flatmates normally taciturn face.

"This is Hanna and Keira." He said, before explaining somewhat unnecessarily. "I met them at a bar last night."

As the pair stalked towards the door on pleasingly long, shapely legs, they each stopped to kiss Shino on the cheek. Shikamaru filled the silence with an apology directed at Hanna.

"Sorry again. You know, for earlier."

He realised his mistake and blushed slightly as she giggled and Keira replied.

"Don't worry about it."

Smiling, she graced him with a sly wink before passing out the front door and out of sight.

Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief at his flatmate locking the door after them. Kiba had once described the thirty-two year old as 'unfeasibly charismatic and ridiculously cool' and after that display he was forced to agree. Being his roommate for 4 years, he had known that Shino had no trouble finding company for the night, but had not expected this.

"How do you do it Shino?" He muttered, astounded, before being pleasantly surprised by an uncharacteristically open smile.

"You're late for work…"

* * *

><p>In Shikamaru's workplace, the atrium went all the way up to the fortieth floor, like a huge glass chimney reaching towards the sky. This was done primarily to impress any visiting businessman who entered via the main door, but since each floor's offices backed onto this void, it also meant that anyone who stared up from the street through the huge glass front of the tower block, could see the buzz of activity inside as far up as human sight could distinguish.<p>

Like a rolling drop of water clinging to the edge of the vast chamber, Shikamaru's glass elevator climbed steadily towards the 36th floor. From his vantage point, he could see Shino's expensive, black sedan cruising away down the road towards wherever he worked.

He dropped Shikamaru at work most weekdays, yet no-one knew where he went afterwards. Even to Shino's flatmate, who'd known him for years, any details about his family or professional life were shrouded in mystery.

All that could be gathered with any real confidence was that his job paid extremely well, which the huge flat, his expensive clothes and his frequent restaurant meals could attest to.

Exiting the lift, Shikamaru almost ran bodily into Sakura who was rushing in the opposite direction. She had recovered from the evening out well, and only a slight shadowing under her eyes gave away how awful she must feel. The only other indication of something being wrong was the hoarse croak that crept into her voice when she greeted him.

"Morning Shikamaru… You look bloody awful!"

"Thanks." he grimaced in reply, yawning as he did so. "Where are you rushing off to then?"

"I got a minute free from work so I figured I'd go and apologise to Neji." She explained as she whirled around him and into the lift. "I just hope I didn't piss him off too much…"

"Ahh don't worry." Muttered Shikamaru lazily. "He had a better evening than you might think." He added, with a cheeky smile creeping onto his face.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!" pouted Sakura, but she got no chance to hear a less coded explanation because the curved glass doors slid shut between the pair before Shikamaru had time to even open his mouth.

He settled for a brief wave as she was carried slowly up through the ceiling and then turned to walk into the bustle of the office space.

* * *

><p>Within five minutes of having sat down in his cubicle, Shikamaru was in agony. Every ring of a phone, every laugh, every tap on a keyboard seemed to pound in his skull and then remain to resonate indefinitely.<p>

He skimmed the memos on his desk through the haze, absorbing absolutely no information, before Choji's round face appeared over the left-hand side of the cubicle divider.

"Feeling the effects of Jiraiya's Syndrome?" he asked kindly, offering a box of painkillers over the barrier. Shikamaru accepted with a quick smile, and washed the tablets down with a long draught from his water bottle. The respite from Shino's hangover cure had begun to wear off noticeably since the car journey and though the cold water brought him back to some semblance of well-being, Shikamaru knew it wouldn't last.

"You've come out of things much worse than Kiba." Said Choji contemplatively, nodding at the other face that had appeared to Shikamaru's right.

"Shut up!" objected Kiba in mock anger. "I feel bloody awful! Besides, freaks like you who don't get hung-over don't have a say in the matter."

As a jokey war-of-words broke out above him, the yawning man in the crossfire began to feel a touch better. Perhaps it was the paracetemol starting to work, or maybe it was the conversation giving him something to focus on, but the noisy room no longer made him feel queasy, even if the throbbing in his temple hadn't gone completely.

"Hey Shikamaru." Spoke Choji quietly, as though Shikamaru might shatter at the slightest stimulus. "You remember when Kiba bet you a fiver that he could smoke all twenty of the cigarettes that he stole from Jiraiya before work today?"

Shikamaru nodded that he did.

"Well show me the money!" exclaimed Kiba, gaining the attention of most of the office. He blushed at the disapproving stares and muttered an apology, before turning back to back to Shikamaru and emptying his hand of the twenty cigarette butts it held.

As the small mound of ash and yellowed filters fell to his desk, Shikamaru was forced to jerk back as the same dusty hand rushed to right under his nose, palm cupped expectantly.

"Come on then… hand it over!"

Shikamaru made to oblige him in good grace, but the money had only made it halfway to Kiba when Choji stretched over the barrier to snatch it away.

"Not so fast Kiba." He said, staring at the scruffy-haired man across from him. Shikamaru was sure he had not imagined the sense of pleading that emanated from Kiba's eyes, so turned back to Choji for an explanation.

"Shikamaru!" he exclaimed, as if he'd only just begun a conversation. "You'll never guess who I caught in our flat's kitchen when he set the smoke alarm off…" As the round-faced man spoke, Shikamaru saw guilt creep into Kiba's face. Choji went on.

"He had a bunch of lit cigarettes in each hand… holding them right up to what he thought was a kitchen extractor-fan, but turned out to his cost to be the fire alarm."

Choji laughed at his flatmates expense and passed the money straight back to Shikamaru. All Shikamaru could handle was a small chuckle, but at least Kiba had the sense to look suitably bashful about the whole thing.

"Shino have anybody over last night?" asked Kiba, desperate to change the subject, or perhaps desperate to earn some money.

"Yep." Shikamaru managed to speak at last. "Redhead. Cough up!" That sentence and a flickering smirk was all the gloating he could handle for the moment.

"Damn. I was sure she'd be a brunette this time…" muttered Kiba as he handed over a crumbled five pound note. "Every Tuesday night for the past three weeks it's been a brunette!"

Shikamaru collected his winnings from the pair purposefully, before smiling faintly a second time and revealing the whole truth.

"Unfortunately, that's only half of what you owe me guys. Twins!"

"Twins" said Kiba with a triumphant, awed hush to his voice. "That man unbelievable…"

They laughed softly while Shikamaru stuffed another pair of distressed looking notes into his wallet, until they were interrupted by a silky voice from behind them.

"Would you mind actually doing your jobs for a few moments? Nara and I need to talk."

As silence fell in the wake of the disruption, the trio turned to face Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

><p>"Run along then." Uchiha added cruelly before walking into Shikamaru's spartan workspace, while a pair of heads slid back behind their dividers.<p>

He wore another blue suit, darker than yesterday's, and up close it was all the more noticeable to Shikamaru how arrogantly he held himself. His posture was casual, but hid a cool distaste for everything and everyone in his presence. He gave Shikamaru a frank glance, apparently not liking what he saw, before continuing.

"Nice of you to show up Nara. It's lucky that your position isn't important enough to warrant arriving on time, rather than two hours into the day."

Shikamaru was genuinely surprised. Uchiha never treated him with anything approaching respect, but whenever he sought him out, it was always about business. He'd curtly relay his message, or explain a task that he expected Shikamaru to perform and then leave as swiftly as he had come. He'd never openly challenged someone like this before. This was the sort of task he would normally send Uzumaki on.

He sniffed in amusement at the pile of cigarettes dirtying Shikamaru's desk, as if he expected nothing less from such a useless human being, and carried on.

"Hmmm. You and your little friends almost jumped with joy when my associate was assaulted the other day didn't you. Don't think I didn't notice you giggling away in your corner, like prepubescent schoolgirls."

This final phrase was delivered with real venom. Shikamaru was still too shocked to reply to the brazen display of disgust which Sasuke had initiated. He had always known that the raven-haired man had this side to him, but now that he was faced with it in the open, he was having trouble knowing how to respond. In truth, his stabbing headache probably wasn't helping either.

"I hold a position of power in this corporation… And it's always wise to respect those with power Mr. Nara." He said softly, cleaning no-doubt non-existent dirt from under a manicured nail. "You're living on a razor's edge as it is. Don't think I won't apply the shove that sends you tumbling if I am once again made to feel that you need reminding of who your superiors are…"

He let the blatant threat hang in the air for a moment, and locked eyes with Shikamaru for the first time since he had arrived, loathing plain on his haughty, handsome face.

"And don't think for a moment that you can merely cower behind Director Hyuga's skirts this time. I will not tolerate disrespect Nara, and a slacker like you should be more careful who they decide to set themselves at odds with." A black glitter shone in his eyes for a moment then, before he finished his thought. "If one pays as little attention to their work as you do, it's only a matter of time before they'd better… _Brace for a fall_..."

As quickly as he appeared, so too he was gone, strolling along the passageway nonchalantly, as though none of the unpleasantness had occurred. On command, a cool, professional smile slid onto his face as he crossed paths with a female employee, but no sooner had he passed than the friendly visage had slipped back to reveal the glower of pure contempt beneath.

Dumbstruck in his cubicle Shikamaru slowly began to return to a normal state of mind, but the shock encounter's effects were wearing off fast, and without the pounding of adrenaline in his bloodstream, his head was free to start throbbing with renewed vigour. He staggered to his feet and made off to find a darkened room in which to calm down… and possibly to throw up.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading chapter 3!<br>I hope you're all enjoying the opening salvo of Drama Inc as much as I am writing it.  
>'Chapter 4 - Company' should be out in a few days time...<p>

I'm sorry for casting Shino as a rich, successful playboy character. He's a real favourite of mine in the manga, so I decided to give him a cool role.  
>Remember the Chunin exams? Everyone else running about dodging kunai knives like sissies... And Shino ends his fight by blowing a kid's arms off...<br>Badass!  
>Okay... I might be a little obsessed...<p> 


	4. Company

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 – Company<strong>

Every few floors up the building Shikamaru worked in there was a staff gym. Someone high up in the company had decided that it would make them a more attractive employer if they were seen to care this deeply about their workforce. In a sense it worked, because for every vacancy there was no shortage of applicants, but what was never mentioned to prospective workers was how little time there was to utilise the facilities.

Deadlines were such that people had to work while they ate at lunchtime and although they were officially allowed their human right to a break it was frowned upon by the upper-management to such a degree that no-one ever took the opportunity. Staff often worked several extra hours in the evening to keep up with the workload, and then left straight after finishing to spend what little remained of their day as far from the office as possible.

As such, Shikamaru was able to find peace and quiet in one of the vacated changing rooms and he sat on the tiled floor with his back to the lockers, eyes closed and brow furrowed with discomfort.

His stomach had begun to settle down after the churning that had begun at Uchiha's provocation, but his head still raged like a wild animal, fresh bouts of pain flushing through his body with every minute.

Thinking about Sasuke should've made him angry, yet Shikamaru knew that wouldn't help his predicament in any way, so occupied himself by counting the cracks running through the tile to his right with long, slightly shaky fingers.

Having regained a degree of normality in his body Shikamaru reopened his eyes and was startled to find someone standing over him. He was first surprised by how the intruder in his hideaway had been able to approach without alerting him, but was caught more off guard by the fact that it was Ino who was watching him and it had been her soft, natural fragrance that had subconsciously made him feel better.

"Wow! You look awful!" she announced forwardly before promptly sitting herself down next to him, her legs tucked elegantly to one side so as not to reveal her underwear. She had not dressed to impress like yesterday, but cut no less fine a figure in her tight, lilac cardigan, which she had donned over a crisp, white shirt and a pleated, grey skirt.

"Rough night out huh?" she continued her rhetoric. "Kiba looked bad as well… I saw him and Choji earlier. He said that his head was trying to kill him, and that all he could take solace in was that you get hangovers that are almost twice as bad as his. I saw you stumble into here, and thought I'd follow and see if you were alright, or if you wanted some company."

She grinned at him and paused, like she expected an input. Shikamaru attempted to turn and smile weakly, barely managing to briefly turn up the corners of his mouth. Ino was sitting very close on his left side, her body turned in to face him, with her right shoulder supported by the lockers that he also leant on, her head tilted to rest there as well, at an angle that he found strangely attractive.

"Thanks." Tried the young man, hoping to show his appreciation for the comforting chat she was attempting to initiate. Worried that his statement had emerged as little more than a grunt, he added. "…For talking to me…" before being interrupted by her buoyantly happy voice.

"I'm happy to!" she exclaimed brightly. "You need cheering up. There's nothing more sad than a man crying alone in the dark."

Shikamaru realised with shock that she was right; his eyes had been welling up as he winced from the stress, but any embarrassment he might have felt was cut short as her diatribe went on.

"Don't worry. I know it's just from the pain. I always get watery in the eyes when I'm hungover and headachy."

She proceeded to launch into a full description of her last night out, sparing no detail, whilst her bleary audience just let the words wash over him, enjoying the happy, almost bossy tone of her voice.

He was brought back to his body with a jolt when he noticed her voice waver and then stop altogether and he looked across at the crestfallen young woman's downcast expression. Shikamaru thought that she looked almost shameful at her outburst and this was confirmed when she spoke up again, in a much less exuberant voice.

"I'm so embarrassed…" she said, and explained softly upon seeing her companion's quizzical expression.

"I used to be very bossy and overbearing as a teenager. It's the one thing I'd change about my past if I could…I try to keep that side of myself inside when I can, but I…" she trailed off, looking ready to burst into tears.

"Don't worry." Spoke Shikamaru in his lazy, unhurried manner, feeling far more like himself in Ino's calming presence. She looked away from the floor and back to him, so he marshalled a serious, yet kind smile and carried on. "It was really helpful… nice…"

He quickly lost his train of thought in the sheer blue of her gaze, before stopping completely, allowing the thrum of the air-conditioning to be the only aural accompaniment to the intense stare that was locking their eyes.

He noticed her mouth forming a sincere, happy smile again, and the cool breeze of her nervous exhalation played across his chest.

It may have been his imagination, but in the instant that followed, he was almost certain that she had been moving; a fraction of a millimetre at a time, towards him.

As the tension between the two seated figures reach a twentieth second, any further speculation Shikamaru might have had was cut short, as light spilled into the murky room and the door slammed open.

With their moment broken, they both turned to face the newcomer.

* * *

><p>"Oh… It's you…" said Naruto Uzumaki as he realised the changing room he'd entered wasn't as empty as he'd originally thought. Due to the fact that the only good light in the room was shafting in from the open door next to Naruto, his left side was cast into shadow. His right however, was crystal clear and twisted into a scowl.<p>

"You look even worse than usual Nara." He smirked, turning to close the door and hit the lights.

Ino had stood with alarm as soon as she'd realised it had been Naruto who'd entered, but when the light had seared Shikamaru's gloom-adjusted eyes he must have gasped in pain, because she swooped back down to his level with concern in her face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll live…"

He spoke through gritted teeth whilst he looked past her at Naruto and let his jaw drop. In the new light the handsome man's left cheek was visible clearly and so too was the rippling, black bruise that had spread across it since the events of the previous day. It gave Shikamaru some odd satisfaction that even in the horrible state he was in, he managed a passable rejoinder.

"I could say the same about you Uzumaki."

The brightly dressed man by the door walked forwards with clenched fists, scowl deepening at the insult. He wore a bizarre combination of an orange shirt with rolled up sleeves and neatly-pressed blue trousers. Somehow the garish mix seemed to work on the tanned man with the bleached blond hair.

"It's about time you were taught a lesson in respect man." He smiled, the humour not reaching his eyes. "If you keep running your mouth like that… it might just be me who gets to deliver it."

In the seriousness of the moment, any aspect of the chatty, boisterous Naruto that other people might know was gone, replaced with a steely, determined version that meant business.

Shikamaru let a silence envelope the trio rather than carry on the verbal back-and-forth. Naruto was a jerk, who needed to be put in his place, but nothing had happened yet that was worth getting hit over.

"Lost your nerve Nara?" he goaded, a trace of his immature side shining through. "Better find it quickly."

Throughout the exchange Naruto had stolidly ignored Ino, as though he couldn't bear to look at the person who'd damaged the face he took such great pride in, but when she stepped directly between him and Shikamaru, he had no choice but to acknowledge her presence.

"Better find yours Uzumaki…" she said with an animal tone in her voice, and determination clear on her face. "You've pissed me off to such an extent that I'm seriously considering making you symmetrical again…"

As the threat reached Naruto, she raised her left hand to help the point sink in, clear relish of the situation bringing an angry smirk to her mouth.

A fierce pride for his new friend warmed Shikamaru's chest, but he knew that Naruto wouldn't step down from provocation like that, so he forced himself to his feet and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her; a united front.

Shikamaru would spend many a daydream over the next few weeks, wondering exactly what would've occurred in the locker-room if it had been left to run its course, but as it happened he would never find out, because in the silence that followed him joining Ino on his feet, a welcome new face arrived amongst them.

Naruto's back straightened and his hands went limp the moment the quiet authority of Neji Hyuga's voice filled the room.

"There you are Uzumaki. I've been waiting for you with Uchiha in Conference Room 7." Neji was more neatly presented than he had been at the bar; his black hair tied together loosely between his shoulder-blades, and a dark suit resting comfortably on his lean frame. "I'm sure you can explain your reasons for keeping us waiting when we are back upstairs."

"Certainly Director Hyuga." Said Naruto without deference, not even trying to hide his irritation at having been interrupted. Shoving a blue kitbag into the nearest locker and retrieving the key, he span on his heel and prowled out of the room.

"…_bitch…_" came the mutter from under his breath as he departed and Shikamaru could feel Ino tensing up beside him, physically stopping herself from retorting.

Neji turned to leave, then thought better of it and faced the pair once more.

"Thanks Neji…" said Shikamaru, embarrassed at having created a situation which had forced his friend to act outside his comfort zone.

Silence reigned as Neji accepted the thanks, and the apology that was hidden within it.

"You look like shit…" he said with the barest hint of a smile visible on his implacable face. "Go home Shikamaru."

Shikamaru nodded and winced as fresh irritation surged through his head. He watched Neji turn and nod slightly in Ino's direction.

"Miss Yamanaka."

"Director Hyuga."

The buzzing of the words in this brief exchange died down slowly in his head as Neji's receding footfalls indicated that he was leaving.

"Up you get." Commanded Ino. "I'll take you downstairs to a taxi. There's no way you'll get home on foot." The moment between the pair had clearly been swept away as her bossy side returned.

* * *

><p>As it happened, Ino didn't just put him in a taxi and send him on his way. She trusted him so little that she came along and was currently making herself tea while her charge sagged on the sofa.<p>

Removing the teabag and adding a tiny splash of milk, she placed the mug aside on a counter to cool and began fussing around the apartment.

"I'd prefer to singlehandedly uproot a tree than try and get you off that sofa…" she said as she put his cast-off shoes neatly into the rack by the door. "Are you okay with crashing on the couch?"

_That wasn't a question, _thought Shikamaru with amusement. He smiled internally at the new, assertive side to her.

By way of an answer, Shikamaru shifted from his slouching, upright position to lie stretched out across the sofa, his feet poking over the edge. Ino seemed almost motherly as she tugged the black throw from behind him and with a flourish, covered him neatly.

"I'd better get back to the office to finish work." She thought out loud as she knelt in front of the dozing young man on the couch.

"Thanks for everything Ino." He said with feeling, forcing heavy lids open to convey how indebted he felt to her.

A pleasant smile was her reply, before she pressed the back of her hand onto his forehead. Her cool skin felt impossibly relaxing against his sweaty brow.

"Thought so. You're running a temperature Shikamaru. It's no wonder you felt this bad if you were coming down with something as well…" she stood, and retreated to her beverage in the kitchen.

Feeling sleep approaching fast, Shikamaru opened his glazed eyes again.

"See you tomorrow" was all he could muster, and as his eyes fell shut his last sight was Ino's mouth, and the playful smirk it formed.

"It's my day off so no… Not unless you know where I live..."

Over the next few minutes Shikamaru fell slowly into slumber, aware of Ino quietly sipping her drink as she watched him drift off. The last sound he was conscious of was the dull 'plink' of keys, as she posted them back through the letterbox, after letting herself out and locking up. Beyond that moment, Shikamaru was dead to the world.

* * *

><p>He stirred from his fitful sleep on the sofa to a strange scene of déjà-vu. In the kitchen, coolly sipping from a tall glass of iced water was a beautiful woman with a robe loosely tied around her. He couldn't make out her face, but was captivated by the sleek, blonde hair that flowed down her body, nearly reaching her waistline at the back.<p>

Noticing his return to consciousness the woman lightly placed the glass down on the counter, barely making a sound and turning to look at him.

He realised with a start, that it was his dressing-gown that she wore, not Shino's, and with a second moment of surprise remembered that Shino wasn't even home, he was still at work. _What is she doing here? _He wondered, but was stopped from pondering further when the lady began to step lithely towards him.

He made to sit up, but stopped, as the woman calmly reached up to slide her fingers through the knot at her left hip and allow the robe to open. She arched her back to let the garment spill from her slight shoulders and ripple off, pooling on the floor as it stroked past defined calves.

As she breathed, Shikamaru noticed the faint outline of her ribs through almost translucently pale skin, but any further observation was cut short as suddenly, startlingly, she was right next to him.

For a second time he began to right himself, yet in this instance was halted when a pair of soft hands came to rest on the centre of his chest, pushing his back down to the couch. Fingers still in place, the woman stretched out a slender leg over the prone form beneath her, and shifted her weight smoothly to sit astride him.

Shikamaru stared up, her face still indistinct, and watched for a moment how the way she'd placed her hands on him pushed the swell of her breasts forward provocatively. Unbidden, his hands crept up, and settled slowly on her delicate waist.

She leant in an inch at a time, almost painstakingly, and Shikamaru breathed in deeply as she did so, sucking in a mouthful of fresh, woodland fragranced air. With the heady aroma swirling around his brain, he was finally able to make out the face of the woman on top of him.

"Ino?"

As her lips opened to answer, the scene melted away, slipping out of the edges of his mind fluidly like it had never been there at all.

"Fuck…"

Swore the heavily breathing man, for the second time in as many nights, as he shifted from his back to his side, hearing the 'snap' as his perspiring body peeled away from the leather of the couch. Sighing, he mirrored his sentiments from the prior encounter, with an added bitter edge directed at the intoxicating woman who'd invaded his mind and shattered any certainty in it in two short days.

"I _really _need to get laid…"

* * *

><p>Hey look! It only took till Chapter 4 to get some real ShikaIno moments in this supposedly ShikaIno story...<br>Sorry guys... It's a bit of a slow starter this one!  
>C&amp;C all very welcome, and I hope you all check in for Chapter 5 soon!<p> 


	5. Problems

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 – Problems<strong>

Since Ino had left at 3 the previous day, Shikamaru had slept on the living room couch in fits and starts, rising often to force down glasses of water in an attempt to soothe his aching head, or to retch emptily into the toilet.

Tossing and turning on his makeshift bed, he alternately sweated and shivered, extremes of temperature siphoning off any strength regained during his short bursts of true sleep.

Moaning, he swung his feet down to the floor and rose unsteadily to his feet, crossing to the kitchen to gulp down more iced water greedily. He stood for a while; wrapped in a shawl of blankets, while supporting himself by leaning on the polished, granite counter.

Almost delirious with hunger, having not eaten since a small portion of toast yesterday morning, he sat at the breakfast bar faced with the self-imposed challenge of a bowl of cereal. Fully aware that it might leave his body very soon afterwards, he ate ravenously anyway, desperately hoping that some solid food would settle the turmoil in his gut.

Getting to his feet again, he trudged wearily back to the sofa, falling into his first true, deep sleep of the night.

It was 5 in the morning. As consciousness escaped him he mused; _Something tells me I won't make it into work today…_

* * *

><p>As bright, midday sunlight lanced into the apartment, Shikamaru grunted and stirred, finding himself in far more lucid a state than earlier that same day. <em>What the hell is that noise, <em>he wondered, infuriated that the unremitting beep had woken him from his healing slumber.

Managing to tilt his head a fraction of a degree, he squinted through the sleep in his eyes towards the source of the interruption. He was able to make out indistinct shapes at first, but persevered, so that soon he could see the flashing of the answer-phone attached to the wall. After the initial calls and message taking, the machine would disgorge its memory to the room for every hour that it was not heeded.

"Seven missed calls… three messages…?" he asked no-one in particular. "Can't be good…"

A nagging sense of apprehension coiled in his abdomen, as he propped himself up on an elbow and strained his ringing ears to listen as the recording began.

"Hey man." Came Kiba's urgent tone from down the line. "Ino said you'd probably stay at home today, so I tried calling a few times. I'm leaving a message now because I guess you're still in bed; you lazy sod."

There was a burst of unintelligible static in the pause that followed, and Shikamaru was only just able to ascertain that it had been nervous laughter, before Kiba went on.

"Anyway, you'd better lay low for the day buddy… The Director is on the warpath. We can hear her swearing from inside her office."

Another short silence gave the now seriously worried man on the couch a chance to wonder how this involved him, so he waited with bated breath for the answer that he hoped was forthcoming. Luckily Kiba wasn't the enigmatic type.

"Your name has been mentioned; yelled actually; at least twice. Choji agrees with me. We don't know if you were planning to come in later, but don't. Let things calm down till tomorrow… What the hell have you forgotten this time man?"

There was another hash of static, and then the line went dead.

Shikamaru was sitting upright now; shoulders slumped as he wracked his brain with speculation on what his transgression had been. Reaching no conclusion, he waited for the second message to play and to hopefully, reveal more.

"Any reason why I can hear your Director screaming your name through the floor of my office Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru had perked up when the cool, serious voice of Neji Hyuga had sounded, since he was often able to shed light on confusing situations, but the fact that his first sentence had been a question boded ill. Shikamaru listened on carefully anyway; just in case.

"I'd give work a miss today." He said wryly, before sounding off. "…Feel better…"

Two down and with one to go, Shikamaru was still none-the-wiser, so sat patiently in the now well lit room for the final message to begin. _How the hell did I sleep through all of this the first time…? _he wondered, before the sheer volume of the next recording reverberating around the apartment and made his internal question even more prudent.

"You'd better thank your lucky stars Nara!" came the furious voice of floor 36's director. "If you'd been in work today the state you'd have left in would've made Uzumaki look bloody ordinary!"

There was a sharp intake of breath, and then her rant started up again, the pure vitriol clear even over the telephone.

"Apparently I arranged to meet one Mr. Palmer from Initech at 11 today. As it happened, I wasn't informed and there was no company car waiting for him at the airport, so our prospective business partner who has flown in all the way from California, was left to get a taxi to us."

"The man is fucking furious Nara, and with good reason. Imagine his surprise when he arrived on my floor, only to be told that I was currently in a meeting and wouldn't be able to see him for two hours! A meeting, by the way, which I knew about three days in advance."

"I had to get Haruno to keep him busy for another hour after that, so that I could prepare something to talk to him about… The whole merger is officially on the rocks, and it is entirely your fault!"

"Listen Nara! I'm fully aware that you don't give two shits about _your_ job, but that doesn't give you carte blanche to go and sabotage somebody else's; especially not mine!"

Shikamaru noticed that he'd been wincing throughout the play-back, and tried to relax, before his face screwed up in another grimace as the line terminated.

"My office Nara. First thing tomorrow morning. Wear your church trousers… You're gonna be doing a lot of fucking kneeling!"

SLAM!

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, and Shikamaru still sat mute, reeling from the blazing speech he had just received. His head rested softly on the backrest, where his arms were also spread out, holding up his sagging form. His eyes were closed in thought.<p>

He blamed Ino. The first time they had met was mere moments after Shikamaru had arranged the meeting with Mr. Palmer. Something about her had completely captivated him that afternoon, to the point that his recent agreement was pushed too far back into the caverns of his mind to recall without prompting.

_That's not fair and you know it._ He told his subconscious fiercely. _You've got no-one to blame but yourself._

He stood suddenly, still feeling abysmal, both emotionally and physically after the messages. Throwing his blankets into the washing-up basket, he decided to shower and get clean, before spending the rest of the day in his real bed, trying to sleep off the rest of his sickness.

The cascade of freezing-cold water was blissful against his fevered skin, and he climbed under his air-thin sheets feeling altogether more human.

As Shikamaru rolled over into a more comfortable position, he remembered what awaited him on Friday morning, and sighed quietly.

"What a drag… She'll kill me…"

* * *

><p>"Get up!" was the cry that finally roused Shikamaru from a sleep so deep it might have been medically described as a coma. "I've been shaking you for five whole minutes…come on!"<p>

He sat up slowly and pushed his long, loose hair out of his eyes to see Shino smirking exasperatedly at him from where he stood next to the bed. It was a rare thing indeed to hear Shikamaru's flatmate raise his voice, but the moment was forgotten as he asked a question in his usual manner.

"Sleep well?"

"Like a log…"

"Guess what I just heard on the answer-phone."

Shikamaru groaned at this; the last thing he needed was a mocking from his roommate on top of everything else. As it happened there was none forthcoming, and Shikamaru listened with interest at what Shino had to say.

"Tough break man… Anyway, I just saw your friends on their way to Jiraiya's. They said they were gonna have dinner there, and asked me to get you to go along if you were feeling better."

"Oh… thanks…" responded Shikamaru, nonplussed. He was surprised that Shino hadn't taken the opportunity to ridicule him in his usual quiet voice, with the dry sarcasm that he was well known for.

"Think you'll make it?"

"Yeah. That sleep has done me good. I'll get dressed."

Shikamaru was surprised at his willingness to leave the house. Normally he was too lazy to go out and meet up with people, so his friends only made plans with him after work, where he could be easily collared and dragged along. Today he felt strangely revitalised, but moreover, absolutely ravenous with hunger. As Shino left him to get changed, he finished the conversation.

"You're a brave man Shikamaru. I wouldn't be willing to go and face food-poisoning at Jiraiya's after a night like you've had…"

Gripped by an odd sense of urgency, Shikamaru dressed quickly, tying up his hair and grabbing his keys, coat and wallet from behind his door as he left his room. It was an hour long walk to the bar from the apartment, but the freshly clothed man knew from recent experience that it could be a two hour marathon amble home when drunk.

"Need a lift? I was planning to go out anyway." Came Shino's measured tones from the kitchen.

"That's okay." Was the reply. "I feel like being outside…"

* * *

><p>Shikamaru always enjoyed entering Jiraiya's bar. It had a friendly atmosphere that could instantly lift the mood of a newcomer, and Shikamaru was in dire need of that. Although he knew that the fresh air had done him good after his ordeal, it had given him too much time to dwell on what Friday held, and he was visibly shaken when his friends noticed him by the door hanging his coat up.<p>

"Oi! Shikamaru! I've got a bone to pick with you!" came Sakura's grumpy shout. She stood and came to him by the door, leaving Choji and Kiba seated at their table. "I got nearly no work done today because I was covering your calls and emails, and then I had to keep some stuck-up American businessman busy because you dropped the ball on Tuesday!"

Shikamaru had begun an apology when he was interrupted by Choji and then Kiba in turn, who came to the aid of their clearly beleaguered friend.

"Leave the poor man alone Sakura! He's got enough on his plate!"

"Yeah! Death Row inmates get their last meal in peace!"

She looked appalled that they hadn't taken her side, but as she walked back to the table she could see Shikamaru flagging; the walk having tired him more than expected, and relented.

"Fine, but you owe me big!"

"What's it gonna be then you bastards?" bellowed Jiraiya, completely stifling the flow of Sakura's burgeoning rant on precisely what she felt Shikamaru owed her. "I can't believe I'm gonna end up cooking four meals… I thought it was going to be a quiet night!"

"Four steak and chips please Jiraiya!" answered Choji brightly, glad of the white-haired man's presence, since it promised both an end to Sakura's shouting, and more importantly, food.

"At least you're keeping it simple…" grumbled the older man as he moved off towards the kitchen, allowing Kiba's yelling to ring in his ears unanswered.

"Stop bloody moaning Jiraiya! You charge far too much for this stuff anyway!"

"Sorry guys… I'm still feeling a bit rough." Yawned Shikamaru. "I'm gonna rest at the bar with some water till the food arrives."

He walked off slowly, smiling back as his friends said that they didn't mind.

Jiraiya was busy in the kitchen, so Shikamaru helped himself to water and ice, before taking a seat at one of the bar stools. Sipping idly, he lost himself in the conversations buzzing in the air, before slowly lowering his head to his crossed arms on the lacquered, oak bar and starting to doze in the pleasant warmth.

"Hey!" Sounded a sparkling voice from above him, followed by a jabbing prod to the top of his head. "Mr. Jiraiya says I have to kick people out if they go to sleep, because if they're sleeping they aren't spending their money! So look sharp!"

He righted himself without haste, letting his eyes come to rest on Ino, who stood hand-on-hip behind the bar, her finger poised ready to poke him again if he hadn't sat up. Inwardly, he laughed at the incorrigible old man's instructions, but remained quiet and collected on the surface.

"Afternoon." He said, a smile rising uncontrollably to his face. The bright, bubbly young woman had a way of infusing energy into Shikamaru even when he was at his weariest. She nodded happily at his greeting, and then leant in kindly to whisper.

"Besides… You shouldn't hide your face away like that Shikamaru… you have a nice face…"

Most unlike himself, he was pleased at the unexpected compliment. He cast an eye over Ino in her new uniform, which suited her well. She was dressed in a black top and a matching skirt, and the small apron around her waist tightened the t-shirt above it, making it impossible not to notice her femininity. She was cleaning the pumps with a damn cloth during the pause.

She carried on this idle task while the pair laughed and joked for a while, with the impulsive young blonde volunteering most of the chatter. Shikamaru found it funny that she professed to have her bossy, loud side under control, when in fact it rose to the fore in almost every conversation he had had with her.

She returned her attention fully to the conversation when Shikamaru asked the question he'd wanted to ask ever since he'd been surprised by her presence.

"How come you're working here?"

"Bit of extra money I suppose." She said, grinning ruefully.

"We don't get paid that badly…"

"I know, but me and my boyfriend want to move into a larger flat together, and we-"

_Damn…_Shikamaru zoned out of her loud rambling about an apartment she'd had her eye on, cursing his naivety internally. _Of course she's got a boyfriend…_he berated himself for letting his hopes tentatively raise; _she's a thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful woman… _

Her bossy speech lulled to a stop, and Shikamaru sensed he was meant to reply.

"That sounds really nice." He said with another of his small smiles, just about able to make it reach his eyes for her benefit. _It's not her fault… _he told himself, changing the subject swiftly.

"I'm glad you're here actually, I wanted to apologise for yesterday… and say thanks."

"Oh don't worry about it! What was I supposed to do, just leave you to pass out on the streets!" she beamed, before turning to the opening kitchen door. "Ooo look! Here comes your food!"

"Can you grab the other plates from inside Ino? I never learnt how to carry more than two like a proper waiter!" Growled the white-haired man emerging from a cloud of intoxicating food smells in the kitchen doorway, smiling by way of apology for his ineptitude.

"Sure thing Mr. Jiraiya!" she said as she scooted off past him.

Shikamaru walked to the table with the food, smiling faintly at Jiraiya's pride at his new employee.

"Did you hear that? Mr. Jiraiya!" he exclaimed adoringly. "Nobody's ever called me that before! Proper respect for her elders that one… unlike you Inuzuka!" he finished, tossing the first plate across the table haphazardly at Kiba's hungry glare. "Not too hard on the eyes either! Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not Jiraiya." Said Choji impatiently, before insisting that the second plate was going to be his.

He needn't have worried, as Ino swept up with the rest of the plates seconds later, excusing herself politely to let them eat in peace. Shikamaru noticed that there were no surprised greetings when she approached, and deduced that his friends had already known that she was there since before he had arrived.

"Why didn't you let me know Ino was working here?" He asked, and it was Choji who volunteered the answer, clearly annoyed at being dragged away from the succulent steak.

"Because we didn't realise we were facing an Inquisition, Cardinal Nara!" he berated Shikamaru. "Besides why would you care whether she was here or no- … Ohhh!" Recognition dawned on his round face and he began to chuckle, getting the attention of Kiba and Sakura.

"What happened to 'don't stare like that Choji, she's not a piece of meat' then?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, still laughing softly as he finally understood the hypocrisy of his friend's reprimand back on the first day they had met Ino.

"What's going on?" asked Kiba, perplexed, and Sakura added a grunt of assent at the question.

"Don't." warned Shikamaru wearily, but Choji paid him no heed.

"Shikamaru here has a bit of a thing for Jiraiya's new employee!"

Shikamaru let the jokes and mild taunting wash over him, hurt that his friends would rub salt in a newly opened wound. _They don't know about her boyfriend…_he reminded himself, opening his mouth to stop the tide of friendly abuse he was receiving.

"Look… She has a boyfriend, so I'd rather you didn't do this right now."

He managed to pull off a small smile of abashed disappointment for his audience; a mask to hide the crushing blow that had been dealt to yet another fledgling attraction. His friends, to their credit, stopped immediately, switching to honest, downcast expressions at Shikamaru's predicament.

"Never get any luck, do you?" said Kiba, a rueful smile alighting his features.

Sakura touched his arm gently, before the three went back to eating, knowing the tired man beside them well enough to realise he'd want a little time to think. As it happened, Shikamaru was more interested in food, a loud rumble from his abdomen helping him remember why he had come.

The rest of the early evening passed without a hiccup, normal bawdy conversation and gossip returning slowly from the silence after Shikamaru's pronouncement. They ate and chatted, with even Shikamaru himself coming out of his shell of exhaustion once or twice to volunteer a slice of his dry wit. The plates had long since been cleared away, so as the banter died down, Shikamaru stood up and began to remove his leather wallet from his back pocket.

"I'll get this one guys… I owe Sakura for today, and you two are broke since I won all your money. See you tomorrow."

Then he turned towards the till after gifting his friends a trademark lazy smile, with thanks filling his ears.

* * *

><p>Ino handed him the bill, smiling, having begun printing it as soon as she saw him approaching.<p>

"Thanks." Came his solemn reply, as he began counting out money onto the bar. She loved the way he spoke. His calm, unhurried manner was something infinitely admired by her, a woman often unable not to rush her words. She filled the comfortable silence with a friendly speculation.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"It maybe the last time you ever do." He said, giving a blink-and-you'd-miss-it smile. The joke was lost on Ino, and she inquired further, eager to continue building a friendship with her favourite new colleague.

"Why, what's happened?"

"I screwed up." He winced, handing her the money. Ino made no move to deposit the assorted notes and coins into their respective slots; waiting in silence for the rest of the explanation she knew was forthcoming.

She found conversations with Shikamaru to be an exercise in patience, and enjoyed forcing herself to remain calm through the pauses, feeling like it made her a better person somehow, sadly aware of the fact that she often broke such silences with small-talk despite herself.

"I forgot to inform the Director about something important… Got an extremely angry message telling me to go and see her tomorrow morning… She's gonna eat me alive."

Ino was genuinely confused. The thirty-sixth floor's Director had seemed perfectly nice when she'd welcomed her new employee to the department two days beforehand. She decided to let the question she wanted to ask fall away, settling for a bright smile and a friendly reassurance.

"Well no sense in worrying! I'm sure things will work themselves out!"

"Cheers." Said Shikamaru, donning his coat and giving her another somehow reduced smile.

_I wonder if he physically can stretch his mouth open wider,_ wondered Ino, amused at the way his facial expressions always seemed too small, as though a full smile or frown was simply too much effort for the young man.

"Good luck flat-hunting." He finished, exiting onto the darkening streets.

Ino had waved him goodbye, but her smile wavered as she thought she noticed some tinge of bitterness in his parting comment. _Did I imagine it?_ She asked herself, before swiftly quashing the notion. She had concentrated hard on Shikamaru's voice ever since she first met him, as its quiet strength was always relaxing to her, and this time she had distinctly heard an unhappy edge creep into it.

She let her arm fall slowly back to her side, and with absentminded pace stored the money away neatly.

_Did I do something…?_

* * *

><p>Hey guys! Thanks for reading on this far!<br>I'd love to hear any comments you have on my writing-style/word-choice/characterisation/anything. I'm always looking to improve, so any and all help is welcome!  
>Chapter 6 will be ready soon, you have my word!<p> 


	6. A Dressing Down

First off. A big apology to everyone for the huge gap between chapters. I have been halfway through Chapter 6 for at least a month. I took a break from writing to read other Fanfics, and made myself feel thoroughly inadequate in comparison. After that, real life took over like the irritating beast that it is. I should get back to a better rhythm from now on.

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 6 – A Dressing Down**

Two men were beside it as it died. Shikamaru watched intently over his father's shoulder. The stern man kneeling before him was whispering in its ear, and while he knew he should be paying attention to the prayer, attempting to learn it, Shikamaru let his attention rove over its body.

_Magnificent._ He thought, with regret. The shuddering stag before them lay on the ground, glossy coat marred on one side by the bracken and twigs on which it rested, and on its other flank by the hot blood that leaked from a grievous wound.

The bullet had entered just behind the beast's left shoulder, piercing the heart, and its life was fleeing from its body with great speed. Finishing the prayer, Shikamaru's father slit the animal's throat with skill, holding its neck down tenderly as its eyes jerked wide open, then rolled back; dead.

"We can use the horns and other parts for medicinal purposes, and most of the meat is edible, but what must we do with what remains?"

"Bury it." Answered Shikamaru immediately. "To keep the scavengers away."

The imperious man turned back to the kill to hide a smile of pride from his son. He had to remain serious; for now he was Shikaku the teacher, not Shikaku the father.

"Correct." Was his curt reply. "You are twelve Shikamaru. I saw my first kill at twelve, as did my father. At sixteen I will call on you to help with what is done next, but for now, move away from here and rest. We have hunted our friend here for nearly thirteen hours, you must be tired."

His face softened as the lesson ended.

"I will find you on my way back." He promised.

Shikamaru had nodded, and then walked off at a leisurely place till he could no longer smell the coppery tang of blood on the air.

He had lain down in a comfy hollow, twisted into the roots of a lightening-struck tree, staring up at the small patch of sky its death had revealed. The vast blue above him was solid, lacking even one fleck of the huge, white, floating reservoirs that Shikamaru so adored to gaze at.

As he shut his lazy eyes, the last sight he saw was the column of pine needles falling from the living trees all around the edge of the clearing. He let the near silent thrum of their landing be the only accompaniment to the orange glow that threaded its way through his thin eyelids.

That was until he first breathed in.

A fresh, natural, vibrant swathe of different scents swirled around his nostrils, wafting away the exhaustion in his mind with ease. There was a sharp, yet somehow also sweet, fragrance that dominated the others, without obliterating them completely, allowing them to be the background notes to its own intoxicating bouquet. It was almost spicy…

_It's the needles, _he realised with a start. _When they're crushed they let off a different smell… I didn't notice till I stopped walking because I was leaving them all behind me…_

_I could stay here forever…_

* * *

><p>Shikamaru reluctantly opened his eyes from his waking dream, to answer a question that seemed to have come from far away. Dragging his eyes away from the clouds that zoomed past as they drove under them, he turned back to the interior of the car, the aromatic smell of new leather quashing the lingering woodland memory in his nostrils.<p>

"Who's Ino?" came Shino's voice again, this time easy to make out.

"What?"

"Ino… the name you were just saying… Is that who you're gonna try and pin this fuck-up on?" he said, with the humour not reaching his face, much less his pensive voice, despite the sarcastic nature of the statement.

Shikamaru let the question go unanswered. It would only become troublesome to have Shino know how much the young woman had been on his mind lately. Luckily his driver didn't seem to be interested in receiving an answer anyway, and let a comfortable silence hang over the rest of the journey.

"Here you go." Said Shino, pulling onto the curb. "Call me if you survive…"

"Shut up." Winced Shikamaru, stepping out into the chilled morning air.

The sleek, black car sped away as soon as the door clicked shut, rejoining the constant flow of commuters and becoming lost in a tide of glass and steel.

"I guess that's the closest to a 'good luck' I'll get from him." Muttered Shikamaru, his heart-rate already rising in trepidation, as he stepped into the revolving door of his workplace.

* * *

><p>Worry was clenching unremittingly in Shikamaru's gut, making the smooth rise of the lift he was in seem like the violent lurches of ship in stormy water. Deep breathing was slowly calming him down to his normal lackadaisical demeanour, but he couldn't truly relax knowing what was in store for him.<p>

He passed the other desks and cubicles of his floor at a brisk, nervous pace, barely noticing the faces of his colleagues in his peripheral vision. The office at the end of floor was looming at him, and he stopped to collect himself when he reached Kiba's cubicle.

Leaning over it he found both Sakura and Choji there as well. Sakura and Kiba were quietly sharing a laugh, whereas Choji was looking up at Shikamaru with a conciliatory smile on his face.

"Ready?"

"Not even slightly."

Choji chuckled at this, putting Shikamaru instantly at greater ease.

"You'll be alright Shika." Said Sakura with conviction. "I spoke with her earlier, she seemed a lot calmer."

"Yeah." Added Kiba. "Practically sane."

Shikamaru offered a weak smile at the joke.

"I'm surprised at you." Continued the man, a disarming smile baring his unusually long canines. "You haven't moaned about how much of a drag this is at all!"

"Must be serious…" Remarked Choji. "Listen Shikamaru, you'd better go. Being late isn't gonna improve things."

Shikamaru nodded his agreement, looked around at his supportive friends, then pushed off the divider he leant on and continued towards the end of the walkway.

_Super._ He thought as he spied two men waiting for a lift ahead of him. _The last people I want to see._

* * *

><p>Uzumaki saw him first. He smirked in the most ugly way imaginable, then nudged Uchiha's arm and motioned towards Shikamaru. Following his underlings gaze, Sasuke's stern eyes came to rest upon their approaching colleague.<p>

Cruel amusement was plain on both faces before him. In Sasuke the mirth was hidden by a façade of patrician calm, in Naruto it was obvious, an unattractive leer on a handsome face marred only by a livid scar.

Looking at them, Shikamaru was immediately reminded of his recent altercation with Sasuke. He could vividly remember Uchiha's mouth forming the mocking words 'brace for a fall'.

"Bastards."

He muttered the insult under his breath. They were taking a perverse joy in this, and didn't care that he knew it. Shikamaru tore his thoughts away from them as they passed from his vision, trying to concentrate on the larger problem at hand.

He paused at the door, took a last look around the ordered rows of desks outside, and then twisted the knob and entered the room.

* * *

><p>The Director was on the phone when Shikamaru entered. She motioned abruptly for him to close the door and then wait silently. A scowl was set on her features at his entrance, which was at odds with the polite business tone she maintained with whoever she was talking to.<p>

Director Tsunade was a beautiful woman, and she knew it. Her keen business mind saw her physical allure as merely another way to climb the ranks of the company, and she was not in any way averse to using her voluptuous form as a weapon.

Stood to the side of her expansive desk, and arching her back slightly as she leant on it, she cut an impressive figure. A curvy ass and a truly huge bust gave her the perfect hourglass shape, which she accentuated with her usual low-cut, form-hugging suit.

Shikamaru drew his lingering eyes away from her as soon as he noticed he was staring. Despite the fact that she made her body obvious in both the way she carried herself and in her choice of dress, Shikamaru knew that getting caught taking an appraising look would not improve his position in the least.

The call came to an end suddenly, and Shikamaru drew his lazy gaze back to Tsunade, as she put the phone back in the cradle, sat, and turned to stare at him with eyes full of reproach.

"That was, without doubt, the most negligent conduct I have ever seen displayed by an employee of this company Nara." She said, her voice calm, but with an undercurrent of danger.

"And then you show up here, with a 'couldn't give any less of a fuck' facial expression, as though you expect a medal for it. I mean Christ Nara! Do you genuinely not give a damn about your job, or would caring be too much effort for you?"

Her voice was slowly rising in volume as she warmed to her theme.

"I spend the entire of yesterday fixing your mess, while you cradle a mug of lemsip at home and feel sorry for yourself… I suppose it would be too much to ask for a fucking thank you?"

Shikamaru wasn't sure whether he should thank her as instructed, or try to frame an apology. Unfortunately he waited too long before responding, and opened the door for her tirade to get into full swing.

"Now would be the time to apologise you lazy prick!"

She was standing now, yelling at full volume and barely pausing for breath. _Troublesome…_ thought Shikamaru. Her words were already blurring to him, and he realised that he wasn't really listening to her any more. Ironic, considering that a lack on attention was what had gotten him in trouble in the first place.

"You're gonna be kissing a lot of ass over the next few weeks if you're hoping to keep working here." She had slowed down again, and the change in tempo and volume drew Shikamaru back to the, admittedly one-sided, conversation. She paused after this statement, and the young man before her seized the moment to say sorry, in an attempt to keep the conversation at a more tolerable level.

"Look… I'm sorry." He managed. "I won't screw up next time Director. And I do appreciate you and Sakura fixing my mess…"

"Fine. Sort it out Nara." Her frown softened now, leaving her attractive face looking merely pained by the beginnings of a headache. Her right hand supported her tilting head at the temple, while her left motioned for him to leave.

Shikamaru turned to leave, but was stopped before he reached the door by his boss' voice.

"And Nara… Don't stare at my tits whilst I'm trying to insult you… It's bloody off-putting."

Shikamaru was taken aback. For one, he hadn't realised that his eyes had been drawn back to her magnificent, and prominent, cleavage during the lecture. More astounding though, was the sudden flash of mischief in the glare of a person who had previously been considered to be utterly without humour.

"Now fuck off." She smirked.

* * *

><p>"Hey! Look who's still breathing!" came Kiba's blaring voice as his friend approached. Shikamaru let a rare, truly open smile slip onto his face at his boisterous friend's proclamation. Sinking into a chair and allowing all his tension to flow off him, he finally relaxed.<p>

"Still have a job?" Came Choji's voice.

"Yeah, but I can't afford to make another mistake for a fair while. My good favour has officially run out…"

"Shut up! Since when have you had good favour?" Yelled Kiba, his messy, brown hair bouncing as he spoke animatedly.

"Well say what you like about Shikamaru's work ethic, but at least he doesn't distract the entire office by bellowing all the time." Said Sakura as she approached. "We could hear you on the other side of the room…"

Kiba had the good grace to blush slightly at the appraisal, before glee set back into his features and he leant back on his swivel chair with a contented grin.

"What's up with you now? One minute embarrassed, the next, happier than a pig in shit!" Said Choji with interest.

"I've just remembered. It's Shino's birthday on Saturday."

"Oh right, yeah! I'd completely forgotten about that."

"Me too." Admitted Shikamaru.

He let the friendly conversation continue around him, as he realised how nice it was to have a party to look forward to after such a hectic week. He was dragged back to the present by Sakura, who had drawn him to one side and was asking him a question.

"Hey. Don't you think you should ask Ino whether she'd like to come along tomorrow?"

Shikamaru considered the idea. While he had to admit that he wanted to see the young woman who'd been occupying his mind so much in recent days, the realisation that she had a boyfriend had really taken the wind out of his sails.

"I don't know Sakura…"

"Oh come on! You're thinking about this selfishly. She's a new employee and she'll want to get to know her colleagues outside of work. I'm sure she'd want to come."

The young man realised that Sakura was right. For Ino, the best thing to do would be to ask her, even if he himself didn't want to be reminded of a budding attraction which had been lost before it truly began.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I know it can't be easy." Consoled Sakura with a kind smile. "Go find her. Then you'd better get some work done, try and earn a little respect back."

Shikamaru nodded and excused himself from the group, looking around to spot Ino's bright, blonde hair peeking out over the edge of her cubicle nearer the window.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru entered the cubicle quietly, not wanting to disturb her while she was in mid-flow. Her brow was elegantly furrowed in concentration as she typed at prodigious speed. While he waited for her to stop naturally, he noted her impeccably good posture while she sat. It was a marked change from the slouching he was used to between Kiba, Choji and himself. Her hair was piled up in an elaborate bun atop her head, bar the usual long strand that framed the left of her face.<p>

"Hey Ino." He ventured when she went to start a new paragraph, but he realised straight away that he'd picked his moment poorly when she jumped at his greeting.

"Shikamaru! You scared the hell out of me you moron!"

Shikamaru was amused at how easily her belligerent, bossy side came to the fore now that they knew one another relatively well. Especially since she claimed to have it under control.

"Sorry… I was waiting for you to finish."

"Oh! So you care whether other people finish their work on time do you?" She exclaimed, with more than a little mirth of her own twinkling in her deep blue eyes. He made to apologise again, but was cut off. "Don't worry about it, I'm joking. What's up?"

"Well it's my roommate Shino's birthday tomorrow, and he's having a get together at our flat." His face was reddening slightly as he spoke. Somehow something as innocent as a party invitation seemed to feel like he was asking her out on a date. He noticed that his explanation had tailed off when Ino spoke up again.

"And?"

"Oh sorry!"

"Stop saying sorry for everything you idiot!"

"Sorry I…" Shikamaru groaned inwardly at his further apology and how flustered he was becoming trying to explain himself to Ino. "We were… I was wondering if you'd like to come along…?"

Shikamaru was finally able to relax in her presence when she beamed at his awkwardly worded request.

"Yeah, I'd love to!"

"Oh, good." Said Shikamaru.

"Is that why Kiba was so excited just now?" She wrinkled her nose prettily as she thought of the loudest of Shikamaru's friends. "The man's like a bloody foghorn!"

Shikamaru chuckled along with her before answering. He knew he should be back at his desk and trying to repair the damage of his mistake, yet he couldn't help but want to prolong his time in this intriguing woman's company.

"No actually. He was glad to see that I survived my meeting with the Director."

Ino laughed at this.

"Yeah, I heard that from over here as well!" Her features then fell to genuine concern. Keeping track of her erratic emotions was a real challenge to Shikamaru. "I'm glad you aren't in too much trouble Shikamaru…"

They shared a few moments of companionable silence, before Shikamaru reached for a small notepad on the desk.

"Here's the address, time and my mobile number in case you have any trouble."

"Thanks Shikamaru." She gave him one of her glowing smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you Ino."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru worked solidly till 5 o'clock, glad of the incentive of a party on Saturday to raise his spirits. He knew he wasn't cut out for the drudgery of this job. His personality clashed with it on almost every level, and he often felt his mind drifting back to the happier times, when he and Choji had spent as much time as possible exploring the woods near where they had lived. The outdoors suited him far better than the inner city, but he'd made his decision, and now he had to make the best of it.<p>

"Hey Shikamaru!"

"Alright Kiba?"

"Yeah I'm fine… Just blown away…"

"By what exactly?" Asked Shikamaru in confusion.

"By how much work you actually get done when you're actually paying attention…"

"Or when his job's on the line." Interjected Choji.

"Yeah I suppose so." Kiba relented. "Does anybody fancy a pint?"

Kiba clearly expected them to follow without argument, because he turned immediately after his proclamation to grab his jacket and begin sauntering over to the lifts.

"That man has a one-track mind…" Exclaimed Choji in disbelief. "Are you coming then?"

Shikamaru saved the document he had been compiling and swiftly signed off his computer. He stood slowly, stretching after hours of working in his usual awful posture. Looking around the room, he saw that Ino had already left for the day, and he smiled with a tinge of regret as he remembered their earlier exchange.

"Yeah why not?" He responded to his waiting friend. "But only the one pint… I don't want a hangover before Shino's party."

"Oh how naïve Shikamaru…" Chuckled Choji good-naturedly. "It's Kiba. You know full well it'll end up as more than one pint."

* * *

><p>Sorry once again for the ridiculous wait between chapters.<br>I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story - good or bad - so thanks very much if you take the time to review!

I do realise that the stag hunting scene at the beginning is really weird. It was one of those things that I wrote, thinking, 'christ I'm a clever bastard' and then looked back on thinking 'what the hell is this...?'  
>Where the hell do people still hunt stags in Britain?<br>How many British people rely on stag horn medicine?  
>There are many other questions I could ask about that scene, but I don't have time.<br>Ultimately, it stayed in the story for two reasons:  
>1. It took ages, and I didn't want it to go to a complete waste.<br>2. His childhood memory of the scent of the woodland shows why he has such an attraction to Ino straight away.  
>Both are flimsy and more than a bit self-serving, but hey... get your own story! :P<p> 


	7. Highs & Lows

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 7 – Highs & Lows**

Generally, Shikamaru hated parties. Many times in their past Choji would drag himself away from festivities to see his unmotivated friend's back discreetly slipping away. The noise and the exuberance of so many people laughing and joking seemed like a chore to him, and while he had long since gotten used to the raucous company of his closest friends, the addition of thirty vague acquaintances to an evening was a sure-fire way to have him ducking for cover.

It came as a great surprise to everyone, including Shikamaru himself, when he admitted to be being reasonably excited by the prospect of Shino's birthday.

"See, you're such a dry bastard, I can't genuinely tell if you're serious, or this is just more sarcasm…" had been Sakura's reply to his proclamation. To her credit, she managed to keep the smirk from her face, if not from her eyes.

The group was occupying a booth in Jiraiya's bar; their usual haunt, and were going over the day's events with great enthusiasm.

"Good point Sakura. To be honest, the guy manages to even make 'good morning' sound sarcastic! Hey Shikamaru, is 'being grouchy' on your CV yet?"

"No. Is 'being obnoxious' on yours?"

Wicked canines flashed for a moment in Kiba's disarming, wolfish grin.

"Well you've got me there smartass… Fancy buying me another pint after verbally cutting me up?"

"Good call Kiba!" was Choji's cheerful input, which he punctuated by slamming yet another drained glass of cider onto the varnished tabletop. He directed his attention at Shikamaru and added. "You have most of our cash after this week's wager anyway."

Shikamaru smiled, something he'd been doing with uncharacteristic frequency since leaving Director Tsunade's office earlier in the day, before carrying on the conversation.

"Fine fine! Just let me finish mine first."

"Oh no you don't. You've barely touched yours. Hoping we'll forget about you if you stay quiet for long enough?"

Shikamaru's smile turned to mock outrage as he pretended to be wounded by Kiba's very accurate assumption.

"Just because I savour my drink doesn't automatically make me dishonest you know."

"I only trust people who can down a pint in less than eight seconds." Kiba offhandedly remarked, while allowing a smirk to colour his next utterance. "Surely you remember that."

His eyes twinkled with mirth while Choji perked up, scenting a challenge being made.

"Okay. What does Shikamaru get if he manages it in eight seconds?"

"I'll pay for my own drinks this evening." He carried on over the sound of Sakura snorting 'yeah right' into her drink. "And I'll pay for his as well."

"We're holding you to that mate." Said Choji earnestly. He was always serious about bets between his friends, no matter how trivial they might have been. "I assume the opposite is true if he fails?"

Kiba only nodded, and pushed Shikamaru's drink closer to him.

Many people thought Shikamaru was lazy, which wasn't entirely true. He could be a bone-idle shirker when it was unimportant, but if he found a task which he genuinely cared about the outcome of, he was infinitely capable of achieving with flying colours.

As he mused on his work-ethic, or lack thereof, Shikamaru realised that he hadn't even idly thought about his father's car in the garage a few blocks away for several days. _Since you met her, in fact…_ his subconscious told him. It was right, of course, but somehow smug as hell.

"Lets get this over with then." He muttered, and lifted the glass swiftly to his mouth. "Eight seconds right?"

He managed it in seven. Shikamaru could hold his drink relatively well, but downing a glass always left him momentarily lightheaded. The furthest his gloating went was in raising a lazy eyebrow in Kiba's direction.

"Hmmm." Said his friend, grinning in his wicked way for the umpteenth time that evening. "If you need me, I'll be at the bar letting Jiraiya rape my wallet for drinks…"

Choji chuckled at this last remark, showing his bemusement at the situation with the genial smile he always wore when content, which he invariably was. Sakura was less composed, probably because she was also less sober. She was laughing silently at Kiba as he inched past her out of the group's booth.

"Fuck you Sakura." He laughed.

* * *

><p>"Fucking Kiba."<p>

Shikamaru was hungover again. He sat hunched over at the breakfast bar of his kitchen, cradling a perspiring glass of cloudy red liquid. The scraps of his hasty toast breakfast sat on a plate just in front of him as did an empty mug of coffee. Neither had helped, so he had fallen back to Shino's suggestion from earlier in the week.

Grudgingly he was forced to admit that it was helping yet again, although his headache hadn't quite receded yet. Having been such a state many times before, he knew that a long shower would restore him to normality.

"Taking my advice to heart I see." Came the near monotone of Shikamaru's roommate.

"Well it's working." He replied. "Happy Birthday by the way."

"Cheers."

"Anyone help you celebrate in style at midnight? Kiba'll want to know…"

"He's a nosey one isn't he?" said Shino softly, amusement plain in his voice even if he didn't crack a rare smile. "No is the answer. I took a day off. It's tiring work."

This time he did smile, but as always, only just. Shino's hair was immaculate and there was no trace of sleep in his face, despite the fact that he had clearly just gotten up. There was something very effortless in every aspect of him; a trait Shikamaru admired.

"I'd prefer it to my job at any rate." Muttered Shikamaru. "Looking forward to tonight?"

"Yeah. I haven't properly spoken to the guys from your work in too long. Don't think I've even seen Neji for a few months." Shino began making himself a cup of coffee, though he didn't look in desperate need of one. "Even Jiraiya is coming, who invited him?"

"Oh, that was Ino." Said Shikamaru casually. "She works with us, but also at the bar."

"Ino huh?" said Shino. "That's twice I've heard that name in the last few days. Who is she?"

"She moved up to our floor earlier this week. We all started to get to know her and it seemed like a good idea to invite her along to get to know us outside of work." Shikamaru was unable to stop himself shifting uncomfortably while talking about the object of his affection. It seemed like twisting the knife in his doomed attraction. "She wondered if we should invite Jiraiya, and since you two get along like a house on fire, we said she could ask him."

"She's got a boyfriend has she?" he asked knowingly, but without malice.

Shikamaru briefly scowled, irritated at how transparent he had been. _I guess I had it coming,_ he thought to himself, _Shino is famous for reading people like a book._ He looked back at his stoic companion, and let out a pent up breath before replying.

"Yeah…"

"Unlucky Shikamaru." He said, with a grim cast to his face. He cared deeply about his friends and his calm, measured words were often a great comfort to Shikamaru when he was feeling low.

Shino approached and patted his friend brusquely on the shoulder as he reached over to pick up his coffee from the worktop.

"Don't give up straight away mate. There might still be a chance."

He then broke the sombre tone of the morning with a proclamation that shook Shikamaru from his burgeoning bad mood and into a short burst of consoled chuckles.

"I'm going for a shit."

* * *

><p>Later in the day Shikamaru and Shino's flat was looking much more presentable. By the standards of Sakura's apartment, their own had been near spotless already, but Shino was meticulous in getting everything ready for the party. Every room had been vacuumed and every surface cleaned.<p>

At first Shikamaru had been hard to motivate into helping, but as predicted, a shower did him the world of good and he was able to put the previous evening behind him and lend his roommate a hand.

They had been out on two separate occasions to ferry large amounts of alcohol into the flat, and then once more to get food. They were under no illusions as to just how much their friends could consume when in the party mood.

After sharing a pizza between them, there was only just enough time for Shikamaru to change into a crisp new shirt and then place as much beer as he could into the ice filled crates in the kitchen, before he heard the first knocking on the door.

* * *

><p>Shino reached the door first and revealed who the first pair to arrive were before Shikamaru could see them himself. He walked up casually to stand just behind Shino's right shoulder and greeted the first guests for himself.<p>

"Kiba, Neji. Good to see you both."

"Hey guys! Are we first here? Excellent, first pick at the food!"

Kiba emerged out of the dark hallway and into the brightly lit apartment. He was wearing jeans and a comfy looking checked shirt which was tight over his well built torso. As always his blaring voice did more to draw attention to him than his muscles ever could. In one hand he held a half eaten meatball sub, in the other a near drained flask of vodka.

He ambled casually towards the snacks on the kitchen counter, turning around just before he reached his destination and adding a nearly forgotten afterthought.

"Oh, Happy Birthday!"

"Well remembered." Shino said dryly as he turned around to welcome the second new arrival. "How've you been Neji?"

The pair shook hands. Neji was as always, impeccably turned out. A tailored black suit hung perfectly over his lean frame, while his black hair was tied neatly behind his head. Barring Shikamaru himself, Neji was the closest friend to Shino in the entire group, so it always amused Shikamaru how their greetings to one another always seemed like the beginnings of a business meeting.

Neji's cousin was so quiet that she nearly had the door slammed in her face by Shikamaru. He spotted her in the gloomy corridor just before he went to lock up. He'd heard about her from Neji, but hadn't been expecting her to be coming along tonight, or to find out she was so good looking. She wore form hugging jeans and an airy blue top. It was a comfortable-looking, baggy jumper whose loose fit could do nothing to hide her prominent chest. Her dark eyes were set on a pale, pretty face and she smiled nervously as she wandered into the room.

"This is Hinata." Said her cousin to Shino and Shikamaru. "She was visiting this weekend so I thought I'd bring her along. You don't mind do you?"

"Not at all. The more the merrier!" he said, with a twinkle of interest in his eyes as he introduced himself to Hinata.

Neji shot a warning glance at Shino who nodded to placate him in response. He then proceeded to lean in to speak with Shikamaru whilst Shino lead his cousin over to Kiba and the drinks, chatting amiably.

"Look out for her tonight will you?" he said while throwing a caring glance over at her. "I have to leave early, but she said she wanted to stay right till the end. I've already warded off a clumsy advance from Kiba."

While worried for his relative, Shikamaru knew that he didn't hold any grudge against Kiba. He agreed to keep an eye on Hinata, and then the pair both shared a brief chuckle at the expense of their loudmouthed friend.

"He'll be a handful tonight for sure."

"Tonight?" responded Shikamaru with a weary grin. "I get tired just watching him."

Shikamaru had a drink and sat in the kitchen with the first arrivals, joining the conversation frequently due to his good mood. The topics on discussion were already veering into the gutter, courtesy of Kiba, but no-one seemed uncomfortable.

Once Hinata came out of her shell Shikamaru noted her sense of humour and personality bore similarity with Sakura. He knew that she would have no trouble fitting in amongst his friends, but hoped she would gain confidence as the night went on, since she still had a tendency to look shyly at her feet after offering something to the conversation.

* * *

><p>Over the next hour, a trickle of other guest showed up at their door. Shikamaru didn't know any of them, but introduced himself politely while Shino tried his best to explain how he knew them. Shikamaru took little of this in, content in the knowledge that they seemed cheerful, friendly and unlikely to take away from the mood of the evening.<p>

He noted with amusement that many of the new arrivals were strikingly attractive women and wondered for what must have been the millionth time what exactly Shino did when he was away from the group.

The flat was nearly full and filled with the buzz of cheerful conversation by the time Sakura and Choji arrived.

"We could hear Kiba from the street!" said Sakura gleefully by way of a greeting. "How're you Shika?"

"Great actually."

"Then smile! You look like you're at a funeral for God's sake!"

"Sorry." Said Shikamaru, abashed. "And you Choji?"

"Same old, same old."

"That good huh? I would do anything for your sunny disposition." Joked Shikamaru as he closed the door behind them. "Thirsty? Let's get a drink in you before we go and find Shino."

"Sounds good." Said Choji distractedly, as he noticed something out on the balcony. "Is that Hinata? I didn't know she was coming!"

"You know her already?" asked Shikamaru, surprised that his friend recognised someone he didn't know he had met before.

"Yeah." He said, still staring out of the doorway to the balcony. He accepted a can of cider with an absentminded 'thank you' before continuing. "She visited Neji a year or so ago. We met back then and got along really well. I didn't expect her to be here tonight."

Shikamaru saw the looked of pleased interest on Choji's ever cheerful features and patted him warmly on the shoulder.

"Go and re-introduce yourself Choji. Shino'll keep till later."

"Good luck!" called Sakura as the pair's large friend smiled and departed into the fresh air. "I'm off to wish Shino a Happy Birthday Shikamaru. Go and tell Kiba to shut the hell up. I'll see you in a minute."

Shikamaru smirked as she wound her way across the room through the knot of people stood there. Shino could be clearly seen opening the door for Jiraiya at the far side of the room, whereas Sakura was making a beeline for the opposite wall, on which Neji leant, nursing a glass of whiskey and conversing with a man Shikamaru had met earlier.

"And good luck to you too Sakura." He muttered under his breath, before he wandered off to find out just how drunk Kiba was so far.

* * *

><p>As it happened Kiba was eating, not drinking when Shikamaru had finally threaded his way through the crowded apartment and over to the bar stools in the kitchen area. He wasn't talking to anyone, just casually dipping nachos into a large bowl of salsa and cheerfully smiling in between mouthfuls.<p>

"Hey Shikamaru!" he called as he saw his friend approaching.

"Yeah hey." He responded, swooping in to sit on the chair adjacent to his friend when it suddenly became available. "How're you feeling?"

"Good! Great, in fact! Where the fuck does Shino know all these women from?"

"I don't know." Admitted Shikamaru before noticing the meaningful look in Kiba's eye and adding "No, I'm not gonna ask him."

"Fine fine…" Kiba said, raising his hands in mock defence.

A comfortable pause settled between the pair as they took a few sips of their drinks each. Shikamaru valued Kiba's friendship as much for the boisterous social side to him, as the serious one. Being able to happily spend a moments silence in a friend's company was just what Shikamaru needed in the midst of the crowded party environment.

"Dyou think any of them would sleep with me Shika?"

"Jeez Kiba!"

"What?"

"We had a good thing going there. You ruined it!"

"What, that silence?" Kiba cried in disbelief. "There is nothing sadder than two grown men sitting silently in a room full of beautiful women!"

"Yes, by the way."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, some of them might sleep with you." Shikamaru grinned. "You're a nice guy Kiba, of course they will…. And they're drunk, which always helps with a face like yours."

"Fuck you, man!"

They both chuckled as Shikamaru reached for a pair more beers for them. Shikamaru would've preferred another, slightly longer, relaxing silence, but instead he restarted the conversation himself.

"You realise that sex isn't the only objective in talking to women right Kiba?"

"Yeah, yeah don't worry… I'm not some kind of male chauvinist you know! I just think there is a lot to be said for sex purely for pleasure." Kiba took a deep draft of his drink before continuing. "Besides, it's a fair assumption that a lot of these women have slept with Shino and I'm far more attractive than him!"

Kiba straightened his back at the last statement, giving a jokey arrogant smirk. Shikamaru snorted into his drink at the spectacle.

"And humble too!" he muttered.

"Damn right! I'm easily the most humble person here!" bellowed Kiba, well aware of the irony in his proclamation.

They settled down after laughing at that and Kiba turned to his friend with a quizzical look on his face.

"Hey, where the hell is Ino?" He stood briefly to scan around the people in the room. "Yeah she's not here… Unless she's in the back with Shino."

Kiba sat back down and grinned at his little joke. His face quickly fell when he saw Shikamaru's 'too soon, dude' look.

"I'm only joking!" he backpedalled. "Besides, Shino is right over there. Even he's not good enough to sleep with someone from outside the room."

Shikamaru's characteristic flicker of a smile told Kiba that he had managed to make up for his distasteful remark. He knew Shikamaru could be prickly about things he took seriously, so made sure to not antagonise him without good reason. Unfortunately he had to dive straight back into the topic of Ino.

"Seriously though Shikamaru, she said she'd be here by around 8." He looked down at his watch with concern. "It's well past 11 now. Closer to 12 to be honest…"

Shikamaru's forehead was stuck in a perpetual frown, but his brow creased an unnoticeable fraction more as he realised Kiba was right. _How did I not notice that…? _he mentally berated himself. _She's all you've thought about for an entire week and then when something might be wrong you barely bat an eyelid!_

"Yeah you're right… Wonder what's keeping her…"

"It's probably nothing Shikamaru." Kiba reassured his friend. "Just give her a ring and find out what's going on."

"Nah, I can't… I only gave her my number, I didn't get hers…"

Kiba chuckled lightly at Shikamaru, causing him to look up questioningly.

"Oh it's nothing… I just wish I hadn't mentioned her now." He smirked in explanation. "You'll only fret about this all night now."

Shikamaru attempted to ward off an evening full of mockery for being a worrywart by laughing it off in front of his friend, though he couldn't help but secretly continue to be anxious.

"Fuck off Kiba! I don't fret! Besides, we both know that Ino is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

"Damn right we do!" bellowed Kiba as he grabbed a couple more beers and began to lead Shikamaru off into the midst of the party. "And Uzumaki definatly does!"

* * *

><p>Ino arrived just as Neji left the party. He had to travel overnight to get to a meeting in Belgium, so he wouldn't be able to stay for the whole evening. Shikamaru had known this beforehand and had seen Neji saying his goodbyes from across the room, so he had made his way over to the door to let his friend out.<p>

He had been worming his way through the knot of people who occupied the centre of the apartment when he heard raised voices ahead of him, and he sped up to find out what was going on.

"What do you mean you 'have to go'!" yelled Sakura. "This is the first time in ages all of us have been hanging out together! It's your best friend's birthday for Christ's sake!"

"Look, I agreed to go to this meeting months ago so that the chairman could have the weekend off." Explained Neji in his calm measured tones. "I'd love to be able to stay, but I can't back out on my commitments."

"This is fucking typical…" muttered Sakura, in a surprisingly quiet voice. "The first chance we get to properly talk in weeks, and you have to fly off to kiss some Frenchman's ass…"

"It's a Dutch company based in Belgium." Corrected Neji, before a wince crossed his normally smooth features at the glare that Sakura threw at him. He tried again, but Shikamaru could see that he was only making it worse. "Besides, this isn't the first time we've talked in weeks, we talk all the time."

_For a smart guy, he really isn't picking up on Sakura's obvious feelings for him…_ thought Shikamaru grimly.

"Fine." Whispered Sakura, raising her hands in defeat. "Fine. C'mon Kiba, lets find me a drink…"

Neji looked bewildered for a few seconds, reeling at the casual dismissal he'd received from Sakura, before he whirled around and left, slamming the door behind him.

Shikamaru felt bad for his friends, but knew that there was little he could do. Neji was on too tight a schedule to chat to anyone now, while Sakura had a tendency to bite the head off the first consoling friend to approach her after an argument.

_At least most of the guests have gone by now…These things are always worse with an audience… _mused Shikamaru. It was nearing three in the morning, and only 5 or 6 of Shino's other friends were left at the party. As Shikamaru stood alone in the flat staring out of the windows at Sakura and the remaining guests on the balcony, he was spared the decision of whether or not to go and join her, when Ino finally knocked at the door.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru had barely opened the door and realised who stood outside, before Ino stormed past him into the room. He was startled to see tears shining on her face as she spun around to face him. He shut the door and leaned back on it, trying to take stock of the situation.<p>

Despite the tears, Ino looked beautiful. She had chosen her outfit for the party with obvious care, not that she ever presented herself with anything less. Her dress was made of an airy, lilac fabric and square cut at the chest; displaying her ample bust. It came down to her mid-thigh, where pale purple gave way to impossibly smooth, toned legs.

She swayed slightly where she stood, more from her distress than the precarious black heels, whilst she wiped under her kohl-blackened eyelashes with the heel of her palm. Her hair was elegantly piled on top of her head, with her usual blond fringe causing her to tilt her head almost coyly as she addressed Shikamaru.

"Could I have something to drink please…?" She grinned sheepishly. "perhaps some whiskey?"

Shikamaru stood dumb for a moment, taken aback by her swift entrance, before finding himself again and responding.

"…Yeah, yeah of course Ino…" He began to wander over to the kitchen area as he turned to her with concern. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Drink first." She gave a grim smile.

"You look like you've had plenty Ino…"

"Drink Shikamaru… Isn't this supposed to be a party?" She smirked. "Mind if I sit?"

"Trust me Ino, I wouldn't force Sasuke Uchiha to stand up for a moment longer than necessary in heels like that."

She laughed in a strained but honest way as she slumped down onto one of the leather sofas in the living space.

"I had a feeling you might be able to cheer me up a little Shikamaru." She accepted her glass of whiskey with a nod as Shikamaru sat down opposite her with his own. "That's about the only reason I came out at all after the evening I just had."

"What happened?"

Ino opened her mouth with a pained expression on her face, before a gale of laughter gusted into the room from outside and cut her off before she even began.

"Looks like Sakura and Shino are doing shots." She observed as she gazed out of the balcony doors at the remaining clutch of guests. "Mind if we go somewhere a little quieter?"

Shikamaru could tell that she wanted to get something off her chest, so wordlessly stood back up and led her through to his bedroom. He felt oddly like he was taking advantage of her, but considered the alternatives; the bathroom, or Shino's room, where literally anything could be going on, and decided he had little choice.

He waited for her to choose somewhere to sit, then sat as far away as possible, slumping down against the wardrobe at the foot of the bed. She was already in his bedroom and he didn't want her to feel even remotely like he was taking advantage of her in a vulnerable state.

"Don't be such a fucking prude Shikamaru!" she muttered in exasperation. "There is plenty of room for you to keep your distance whilst still sitting on the bed with me!"

_Then again, _thought Shikamaru wryly, _I don't think Ino is ever completely vulnerable… _

"Fine." He sighed in defeat. "Are you going to tell me what's happened?"

He sunk down into the mattress on the right-hand side, turning to face Ino and balancing his glass on his stomach.

"My boyfriend has been cheating on me…"

"Ah… That sucks Ino, really."

"It's almost funny how brazen they were about it." She gave a snort of un-amused laughter then looked back at Shikamaru darkly. "Almost. I got ready for Shino's party in plenty of time to get here by 8 like I said. I got halfway down the street to the bus stop when I remembered that I'd forgotten my phone. Came back in and found my neighbour with her pretty little legs wrapped around his waist. On my fucking dressing table no less…"

This time she did laugh. She drained her glass with a single gulp, then coughed softly as the burning liquor rushing down her throat.

"Anyway, my neighbour left in a hurry; streaming out apologies. I spent the next 7 hours getting to the bottom of things with my scumbag boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend." She corrected herself.

"Did you?" Shikamaru asked tentatively. He was really unsure how to proceed in situations like this, so kept his input short and to the point. If she needed to offload, he would listen, but any advice he tried to give would no doubt make things worse.

"Oh yeah. The asshole has been with my neighbour for at least 3 months, and other women before her." She bent forwards and took off her black heels, flinging them into the corner and stretching out her slender legs on the bed. "Once the cat was out of the bag he was completely unashamed of it all… According to him, he has been driven to it because of me being such a lousy girlfriend."

Shikamaru took a sip of his whiskey in the pause that followed, knowing that she had more to say. He was finding it hard to comprehend how anyone could be so dissatisfied with Ino that they would seek other women.

"I guess I just wasn't enough for the greedy bastard…" she gave another bitter chuckle.

"_What a moron_" Shikamaru surprised himself by uttering his thoughts in an undertone, despite planning on keeping his feelings guarded during the conversation.

Ino's hard eyes softened at the inherent compliment hidden beneath Shikamaru's insult of her ex-boyfriend.

"That's sweet of you Shikamaru…" She smiled at him kindly when he looked up, surprised that his slip-up had been well received. "I suppose I'm partially to blame as well…"

Shikamaru was about to speak up in outrage at her last statement, but was cut off by her continuing.

" No, seriously! I must be a real idiot if he got away with all this for so long without me having the vaguest clue."

"Or he's just a particularly devious bastard…"

Ino laughed, in a restrained but genuinely amused sort of way.

"Or that, yeah…" Her brief smile receded as a contemplative silence grew between the pair.

"I'm gonna get another drink." She announced suddenly. "You're nearly empty too Shika, let me get that for you." Ino spun away from Shikamaru and padded softly out of the room with only the ice clinking in the empty glasses to give him an indication of where she was.

When she returned, she had let her hair down.

"All that effort for nothing, huh?" she smirked, glancing upwards to indicate the tumbling sheet of blonde that fell gracefully down to her shoulders.

"You looked beautiful Ino." Said Shikamaru softly, staring down at the drink he had just been given.

"I don't anymore, do I?" she replied, arching an eyebrow in wry amusement.

Shikamaru looked up, mortified at the implied insult he had paid her.

"Calm the fuck down you tit!" She laughed at him, perching herself back on the bed. "Wouldn't know a joke if it hit you in the face…"

Since first sitting on the bed, Shikamaru's usual appalling posture had gotten more and more pronounced, to the point that only his head and neck were actually propped up, with the rest of his body lying prone. He too had kicked off his shoes in favour of comfort.

The sprawled out man felt his entire body tense up as Ino leaned back to rest her head on his shoulder. She lay directly next to him, with her feet tucked up under his left knee, and there bodies touching at the side. He could feel how cold her feet were even through his jeans.

He had been completely unprepared for such physical contact from the woman he felt such attraction for and only a few seconds later could he feel the tension beginning to seep back out of his limbs.

"Shikamaru?"

"Ye…yeah?"

"Do you mind if I stay the night? I told him to be out of the apartment by lunchtime tomorrow, but I don't really want to be there while he is…"

She took a sip of her drink, and Shikamaru followed suit, not yet sure how to respond.

"I'll take the sofa if you and Shino are okay with it."

"Don't take the piss Ino." Exclaimed Shikamaru. "You can take the bed… Me and the sofa are old friends…"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." He muttered quietly. "I might not be a good host, but I'm not a completely crap one…"

She laughed lightly at Shikamaru's self-deprecation, the tremors reverberating pleasantly down his side. She nudged him fondly in the ribs with her elbow, murmuring her thanks.

"Cheers Shikamaru, this means a lot."

"No problem…"

The pair lapsed into a companionable silence, with Ino, who had consumed a fair amount of alcohol, beginning to feel her darkened eyelashes getting heavy.

Before long, Shikamaru noticed the change in her breathing rate that signalled her falling asleep. He lay prone beside her for a few minutes more, finishing his whiskey and breathing in her intoxicating scent deeply.

He placed his glass on the table to the side of the bed, fighting to stay awake himself and determined not to fall asleep beside Ino, not sure of what compromising position he might wake up in. He slipped gently away from her, gently lowering her head onto the pillow and taking away the glass that she clutched loosely in her left hand away, placing it beside his own.

He sighed and looked down at his peaceful companion. He felt like he'd crossed some sort of line in lying next to her the way he had. Hell, he felt like he'd crossed a line just by bringing her into his room. Even though it had been her suggestion that he sat on the bed and her who leant on him, she had been drunk and emotional and Shikamaru knew he should have probably stopped her. He couldn't deny that it had felt nice to have her lying so close to him though. _No matter which way you slice it, women are troublesome…_ thought Shikamaru as he exhaled painstakingly.

She lay entirely on one side of the double bed and, not wanting her to get cold during the night, Shikamaru softly lowered the other half of the sheets over her sleeping form.

He cracked open the door as quietly as he could, before peering out and cursing under his breath at what he saw. Whilst the other guests clearly remained out on the balcony, Kiba was chatting up one of Shino's hugely attractive acquaintances as they both sat on the sofa.

Shikamaru could feel himself becoming drowsier even while he stood, yet he didn't want to ruin his friend's evening. Making a snap-decision, he crossed the wardrobe and removed a spare sheet, pillow and a bedroll.

He spread it in the corner of the room near the foot of the bed, stripped to his boxers, crawled under the sheet and lay down. He only hoped that Ino was understanding about him sleeping in the same room as her, after saying he would use the couch.

He soon lost grip on these worries however, as he fell swiftly into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru woke with a start, to the sound of soft panting next to his ear.<p>

As his sleep filled eyes drifted open, he became aware of Ino lying atop him, grinding her hips against the sheets under which he was straining in arousal.

Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, feathering fleeting kisses along his shoulders and chest in between intermittent gasps of pleasure.

As he realised the extent of the scene he was awakening to, he tried to sit up, and reached out to stop her undulating hips from rubbing against his manhood. A low moan that was almost a whimper sounded in his ear, followed by Ino pleading.

"Don't stop me Shikamaru, you want this too…" she whispered huskily, her exertions making her voice a little less soft than usual. As Shikamaru replied, she dipped her head again to nip playfully at his earlobe.

"You're still drunk Ino" he replied. "We can't do this." He kept his hands on her thighs, firmly holding her away from his pelvis so that she couldn't see how much his body disagreed with his words. He could feel the damn sheets clinging to his skin, already wet with Ino's desire.

"You…Don't…Believe…That…In…The…Slightest…" she murmured silkily, punctuating each word with a chaste kiss. As she finished her sentence, she bit him just above the collar-bone, on the tender flesh of his neck, causing him to gasp in discomfort and more than a little pleasure.

This new, dominant Ino wasted no time in capitalising on his open mouth, capturing him in a fierce, overwhelming kiss. Caught by surprise, Shikamaru released his hold on Ino's legs for just a moment, which had been just what she was waiting for. She swiftly resumed her ministrations down below, moving herself sensually up and down Shikamaru's length, with only the thin sheets separating their writhing bodies.

Rapidly losing his will to fight, Shikamaru found himself responding to her passionate kiss in kind, exploring every inch of her mouth with his skilful tongue. Before long he was even bucking his hips below the blankets, in time with his partner's own movements, earning him heady moans of pleasure and small gasps of appreciation.

Completely giving in to his animal need to be with this woman, he wrapped his toned arms around her waist and rolled over in one fluid motion. She now lay on her back, with Shikamaru supporting himself above her, her legs now tangled in the same sheet that still imprisoned Shikamaru.

He took a moment to drink in the perfect, beautiful sight of her. In the darkened room he was still able to note the slight flush in her cheeks, and the slightly pink shade of her lips, swollen from kissing. He also couldn't fail to observe the rise and fall of her heaving breasts, as she drew in shuddering lungfuls of air in her arousal.

He breathed in deeply before leaning down to kiss her again, finding himself kissing nothing at all as the scene faded around him.

The last thing he sensed before waking up, perspiring and almost painfully erect, was the faintly spicy, woodland scent of Ino and beneath it, the subtle musk of female arousal.

* * *

><p>Hi guys...<p>

So, this is what happens when I promise to have a new chapter out soon...  
>Sorry for another ridiculous wait! I've been really busy at work and had plenty of other stuff to be getting on with, and unfortunatly this story had to take a back seat :

But at long last here is Chapter 7! All is forgiven! Right guys? Guys? Where are all going...?

Please drop me a review to let me know what you think; whether good or bad!

Alright, that's all for now...  
>Let's try some reverse psychology: Expect a new chapter in absolutely ages! ;)<p> 


	8. An Evening's Consequences

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It centres around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the lives of him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 8 – An Evening's Consequences**

After waking at around 4 am from his extremely vivid dream, Shikamaru was only able to doze fitfully for a few more minutes, before admitting defeat and rising to get a drink of water.

Wrapped loosely in his robe, he moved silently across the living room to the kitchen, immensely aware of the prominent bulge he was causing in the fabric; a memento from his recent unconscious encounter with Ino.

He gulped down a glass of ice cold water greedily, trying to cool his perspiring body. As he stood with his drained glass, he looked out of the window to see who remained at the party. As far as he could see, there were only six people left. In one corner sat Choji and Hinata, looking out over the street and talking quietly, and in the other Jiraiya and Kiba were chatting to a pair of Shino's friends in slightly more raucous style.

I seemed like Sakura had headed home soon after her disappointment with Neji, and that Shino was likely back in his bedroom; and probably not alone.

Shikamaru returned to his room, closing the door as quietly as he could so as not to wake Ino, and hanging his robe on a hook on the other side. He realised he stood little chance of falling asleep while he was overheated and wound up, so he decided to take a shower.

He rounded the bed and entered the en-suite, taking care to not wake Ino whilst closing of the door or starting the shower. Breathing a sigh of relief when he realised that he hadn't disturbed her, he shed his underwear and stepped into the flow.

As the water cascaded down onto his scalp, Shikamaru looked down to find that his persistent erection showed no signs of subsiding. While it pained him to be reduced to such an adolescent method of relief, he knew that he had to offload his pent-up emotions somehow, so he reached out to grasp his rigid member and began working it with vigour.

He snorted in amusement at the situation he found himself in. As water pounded off his wiry musculature, he was jacking off like a hormonal teenager whilst the root of his entire problem slept not three metres away. He was still chuckling a little as he reached the end of his task several minutes later, gasping slightly in his moment of release.

Despite feeling completely ridiculous about the whole predicament, he knew he would rather endure a little irritation at himself for masturbating in the shower, than the shame of having Ino wake up in the morning to the sight of him standing to attention under his sheets in the corner of the room.

"_Fuck…_" he breathed, his voice lost in the sound of the shower.

He spent the next five minutes getting clean and dry in the bathroom, before emerging back into the room feeling a little more like himself.

He paused for a moment before sinking back into his makeshift bed, to glance at Ino as she slept peacefully on; blissfully unaware of the lengths her friend had needed to go through to regain his precious self-control.

"_I'm such an ass…_" he whispered to himself, smiling ruefully as he clambered back under his blanket. He fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep not long afterwards.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Shikamaru was the first to wake up after Shino's party. His eyes drifted open at around half ten in the morning and he stretched luxuriously in his first moments of consciousness. He propped his head up on his pillow after punching it into the shape of the corner of the room, yawning silently and taking stock of the situation.<p>

Ino still slept on obliviously on the bed. She had kicked off the sheets in her sleep, but now looked to be suffering for it, curled up in a ball a shivering slightly.

Shikamaru rose with a groan as his head span from the sudden movement and wandered over to the bed at a leisurely pace. He reached over to carefully replace the blanket over his sleeping friend. As he did so he found his mouth going slightly dry at how high Ino's purple dress had ridden up during the night. He couldn't fail to notice the smooth expanse of her thighs tucked up against body, nor the perfect curve of her ass, which was accentuated by the black panties she had chosen to don for the party.

He completed his task hurriedly, not wanting to be caught looking at Ino's flawless body when his actual intentions were relatively pure.

"I'm loosing it…" he muttered as he turned to leave the room, bemused at how he was overanalysing his every action around Ino when he was normally so relaxed about how others perceived him. "Then again… her boyfriend has definatly lost it…" he added, shaking his head in bewilderment as he entered the main living space.

* * *

><p>His first reaction to the scene was of irritation. Bottles, glasses and half empty plates covered every horizontal surface bar the floor, and even that had plenty of coverage. Shikamaru had known exactly how much mess to expect from a gathering of this size, but that still didn't detract from the moment of actually seeing it all arrayed in front of him.<p>

As was often the case, it was Kiba who cheered him up. Shikamaru had wandered slowly into the bombsite that was his flat and was soon able to make out his friend sprawled out over the couch.

A crudely drawn penis adorned his left cheek, while the words 'I love Jiraiya' in thick, black marker pen were stamped across his forehead. Evidence that the latter piece of bodily graffiti was accurate came in the fact that Kiba's arm was draped over the snoring form of the cantankerous bar owner.

Shikamaru sniggered and walked past, deciding to let his friends sleep on in ignorance of their embarrassing situation. Of all his close friends who'd been at the party, Kiba and Jiraiya had surely had the most to drink, so Shikamaru knew that they'd probably be feeling too rough to make a big deal of their impromptu spooning.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and set about clearing up some of the mess on the kitchen work surface. If he was truthful, he was just moving it all about to make room for him to cook breakfast, but he didn't think anyone in the flat would appreciate empty bottles being dropped into recycling bags until they'd rehydrated and had something to eat.

Shikamaru noted with satisfaction that he was unlikely to be the one with the worst hangover for once and knew that he would enjoy being on the other side of things.

As he finished filling the kettle with water, Shikamaru heard the almost imperceptible click of a door opening down the hallway and approaching footsteps soon after.

Having been Shino's roommate for several years, he was no stranger to 'the walk of shame', yet still found it interesting to watch. He turned to face the entrance to the hallway wishing he'd made another of his traditional hair-colour bets with Kiba and Choji, given his luck earlier in the week.

"Sakura?"

"Ah… Super… You're up…"

Shikamaru stood dumbstruck for a few moments at his friend. He didn't even attempt to speak, knowing that what emerged from his mouth would likely be utter drivel.

Sakura closed the distance between them a little so that she could keep her voice lower in their exchange. She had an urgent look in her deep, jade eyes and was still wearing her dress from the night before; a form-hugging red number which showed off her athletic, yet not unfeminine figure.

"Don't tell anyone about this Shikamaru…" she started, with no hint of a plea in her voice. It wasn't the bossy command it may have seemed, merely a candid statement of her wishes to a friend she trusted to have her back completely.

"Close your mouth Shikamaru. I know you weren't expecting this but you're overreacting a little." She attempted to diffuse the tension with a joke. "Did you not think to bet pink this time round? I guess I've ruined a winning streak…"

Shikamaru managed to smile weakly, feeling his subconscious crowing internally at him finally being able to form a response that wasn't slack-jawed confusion.

"Seriously, though." She went on solemnly. "This was a mistake…"

She cracked the tiniest of smiles.

"Admittedly a fun mistake…"

Shikamaru raised a disapproving eyebrow at this second attempt at levity.

"Oh grow up Shikamaru." She berated him gently. "We're all adults. Besides, I don't know if you noticed, but I was ridiculously drunk last night."

"Fine Sakura." He said. He could see in her face that she had just made a poor decision in a moment of high emotion and that she was regretting it immensely. "But what about Neji?"

"He can't hear about this Shikamaru." She warned. "I really like him… however much he pisses me off, I still really do…"

Shikamaru nodded in acceptance. He didn't like the situation, especially the notion of having to keep something from a friend, but he knew it was for the best.

"You make, without a shadow of a doubt, the weirdest couple I have ever seen." Smirked Sakura, as she noticed Kiba waking up. "I'm gonna make a move Shikamaru. Take care of those idiots will you?"

"I have to." He replied with a weak grin. "They're _our_ idiots, remember?"

Sakura snorted in laughter, then stepped a little closer to Shikamaru to kiss him on the cheek briskly. As she pulled away, she prodded him firmly in the centre of the chest with her index finger.

"Not a fucking word, got it?"

Shikamaru smiled as the normal, confident Sakura returned. He never liked seeing his friends in difficult positions.

"And Shikamaru…"

"Mmm."

"Put some bloody clothes on." She muttered in exasperation as she left the apartment.

Shikamaru realised that Sakura was right. In his newly-awoken daze, he had been wandering around in just his boxers, with his unkempt, brown hair hanging down to his shoulders.

"What was all that about?" mumbled Kiba, his voice muffled by the cushion that he lay face down on. He lifted his head weakly and stared at Shikamaru through bloodshot eyes while he waiting for a response.

"Nothing to worry about Kiba." He replied calmly. Conversations with his shaggy haired friend were at a blissfully lower volume when he had a hangover.

Kiba wrinkled his nose, as if unsatisfied with the answer, but he clearly didn't have the energy to argue. What little stamina he had regained during a short night's sleep, was spent on shoving Jiraiya unceremoniously off the sofa that they shared. The white haired barman landed hard on his back, swore, mumbled, then began snoring as though nothing had happened.

Shikamaru put the kettle on to boil and then left his friends to rouse themselves in their own time, deciding to put some clothes on.

* * *

><p>As he re-entered his room, he noticed that Ino was out of bed and he could hear the extractor fan making a dull humming noise through the thin bathroom door. Not wanting to be caught half-naked by Ino, he hurried across the room to his wardrobe and selected a fresh set of clothes. Flinging a pair of jeans and a tight fitting black hoodie onto the bed, he proceeded to turn into the corner and change his underwear as quickly as he could.<p>

He had just put his left leg into the jeans, when he heard the bathroom door open behind him.

"Freeze!"

He froze. And promptly fell on his ass, turning his head towards the sound of Ino's clear, happy laughter.

For the second time that morning Shikamaru felt the breath catch in his throat as he looked at Ino. She had clearly just come out of the shower and was wearing a towel wrapped around her body. Droplets of water rolled down her glistening skin and her sodden hair clung to her face and neck. Shikamaru barely took any of this in, however. His attention was nearly completely focused on the radiant smile that shone from Ino's features.

Shikamaru cared deeply about his friends, and never enjoyed seeing them downcast, but Ino's troubled expression from the night before had really brought his mood low. Seeing her smile again had given him such an uplifting feeling that inside he felt vaguely pathetic. _Get it together Shikamaru…_

"Don't just sit there! Put your trousers on!" She yelled, before raising a provocative eyebrow at him and adding. "Or don't… Frankly, I'm not fussy."

She twisted her hips around to perch lightly on the edge of the bed, keeping her eyes on Shikamaru while she began drying her hair with a second, smaller towel.

Shikamaru finally regained control of his limbs and, still lying on the floor, wrestled into his jeans, aware of Ino snorting in laughter at the spectacle.

Despite her affected amusement at the situation, Shikamaru could feel Ino's eyes looking him up and down in his state of undress.

While he had never visited a gym of any sort, he took good care of his body, both in terms of diet and exercise, and was quietly happy with his athletic physique. Wiry musculature made his torso lithe and toned, with the hard planes of his chest giving way to smooth yet prominent abdominals. As a generally modest person, Shikamaru found himself faintly embarrassed at the brief flush of pride he felt at Ino's gaze roving over his topless form.

_At least this makes us even…_ supposed Shikamaru, feeling a little less guilty about the many appraising glances he'd caught himself giving Ino.

He rose quickly, pulling the hoodie over his head so as not to feel so self-conscious, then busied himself by tying up his hair in his traditional spiky tuft at the back of his head.

As he finished his task and looked over at Ino, he couldn't help but think that in another universe, a nearly identical Shikamaru had made a different choice.

The other Shikamaru would have been bold. He would have risen to tie up his hair first, remaining naked from the waist up and standing much closer to Ino than the real Shikamaru dared. When he was done, the other Shikamaru would let his arms slowly fall to his side, fixing the woman before him in his gaze.

In this other version of events, perhaps Ino would reach out to him and his hairs would all stand on end as her cool fingers brushed against his stomach. She would reach up, gently pulling him down to her level by his shoulder, capturing his mouth in a slow, sensual kiss.

_Just imagine_, thought Shikamaru, _what it would be like to kiss this woman…_ _to make love to this woman…_

_Keep dreaming…_

Shikamaru had often been told to get his head out of the clouds, but had to admit that in the last week, his imagination had really kicked it up a gear.

"So what did I do to earn that little show?" chuckled Ino.

She had paused in drying her hair to ask the question. Despite having been quite aggressive in her technique, she had against all odds achieved an artfully mussed style, and as Shikamaru watched her peering demurely out from under her slightly frizzy blonde hair, he found himself dangerously close to falling into yet another daydream fantasy.

"You looked like you could do with a pick-me-up." He shrugged nonchalantly, internally baffled at where such a composed and suave line had come from. _Who the fuck do you think you are, Shino?_

"Oho! So you think that prancing around in your underwear is the best way to cheer a woman up, do you?" She replied, visibly enjoying the jokey exchange. "God knows what you're like in bed!"

Shikamaru was dropped out of his comfort zone in an instant. He was suddenly realising how flirty the tone of the conversation had gotten, and with a pang of annoyance at his lack of self-control, remembered that Ino had been single for less than twelve hours, and he was veering very close to out-and-out hitting on her.

Feeling oddly exposed and out in the open after his realisation, Shikamaru bit back his verbal riposte and tried to work out how he could move the conversation back into more comfortable waters.

"Sorry, that was taking it a bit far wasn't it?" Said Ino, breaking the burgeoning silence with a small smile. She jumped to her feet and started back towards the bathroom, grinning as she went on. "I'm sure you're lovely in bed!"

Shikamaru managed to form a response just as she turned at the entrance to the bathroom and prepared to close the door.

"Tea, Coffee? I was gonna fry some bacon and…" he started, but he soon tailed off as Ino beamed at him.

"You're not my mum you moron, I'll make my own breakfast in a minute!"

She threw him one final, glowing smile.

"Coffee would be great, thanks."

* * *

><p>Somehow, as it always did, the smell of bacon was raising Kiba from the dead. He had been lying comatose on the sofa since Shikamaru said goodbye to Sakura; not asleep, yet nowhere near awake, but now he was finally stirring.<p>

"You doing eggs as well?"

"Obviously. You look like you'd crucify me if I didn't."

Kiba grinned, showing off his unusually long canines, but his eyes remained blurry and out of focus.

"Damn right I would… Sausages too?"

"We don't have any…"

"Fuck."

Shikamaru smiled at the genuine sadness in his friend's face at the revelation that there would be no sausages.

"Kiba. How many times have I cooked you a hangover breakfast?" He asked. "Of course we have sausages… We always have bloody sausages!"

"Sweet…"

Kiba couldn't manage a more enthusiastic display of relief. He settled for a single muttered word, and flopped back against the back of the couch, putting his feet up on Jiraiya's belly.

"I am awake you know, Kiba…"

Shikamaru's shaggy haired friend looked down at Jiraiya in alarm, recoiling his feet.

"I'm not complaining, I just thought you should know." Jiraiya cracked a rugged grin. "Besides, my stomach is the least of my problems. My head'll be giving me trouble for weeks after this."

Kiba relaxed again, although placed his crossed feet a respectful distance away from Jiraiya's prominent paunch.

"Fancy switching careers Shikamaru? That breakfast smells divine." Jiraiya went on. "If I had Ino manning the pumps and you in the kitchen I wouldn't need to do anything anymore!"

"You don't do much anyway Jiraiya." Came a muted voice from down the corridor, before its source, Shino, hove into view.

"Morning Shino." Said Kiba, rapidly returning to his usual volume. "Sleep alright?"

"Fine, thanks."

Shino seated himself on a vacant barstool and poured himself a cup of coffee from the freshly boiled kettle.

"Have company?" Asked Kiba, with a disarming smile.

"Of course he did. Always does." Muttered Jiraiya in a tone of gravelly admiration.

Shikamaru remembered Sakura's request, and shot a brief warning glance in Shino's direction. Against all odds, his stoic roommate interpreted the look correctly.

"Nope. Going it alone."

"Sure you didn't keep Sakura company?" Grinned Kiba gleeful.

Shikamaru groaned internally as he realised that his friend had seen Sakura leaving.

"Why Kiba?" He asked, trying to convey exasperation, when he was actually a little amused despite himself. "Why did you have to choose today to become this fucking perceptive…?"

Kiba smiled weakly in apology, taking a massive sip of coffee in the pause that followed. Jiraiya diffused any tension that might have developed with a shock proclamation.

"Sakura, huh?" he muttered, half to himself. "I always thought she had a thing for me!"

Shino shook his head in bemusement. Shikamaru and Kiba were more vocal in their protests to his outburst.

"Seriously Jiraiya?"

"Shut the hell up, man!" Kiba roared in mock outrage. He gestured to the crude markings on his face before continuing. "We've had enough of your crap for one day!"

"A bit touchy aren't we…" he muttered with an imperceptible smirk. "So Shino slept with pinky, they're both adults aren't they?"

Shikamaru nodded ruefully at Jiraiya's response.

"That's the excuse she gave as well Jiraiya… That and being drunk…"

"Spectacularly drunk." Chipped in Shino with a vaguely confused expression. "It was a bit weird actually. She just followed me into th-"

"Stop!" Interrupted Shikamaru. "You've basically just slept with my sister Shino… I really don't need a blow-by-blow."

"Speaking of blowing…" began Kiba, smirking, before being cut off.

"Shut the fuck up Kiba!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Any further discussion on Sakura and Shino's evening was cut short as Ino exited Shikamaru's room.

"Ooo! Is the bacon done?" she asked, before realising how rude she was being. "Oh, sorry. Morning everyone… Happy Birthday Shino."

"Cheers." Responded Shino with confusion.

"Yeah, morning…" Added Kiba in a similar tone.

It took Shikamaru a moment to work out why his friends seemed so surprised at Ino's entrance.

_She's just left your bedroom having clearly had a shower after sleeping there… They think you slept with her you moron!_

Ino padded past barefoot and busied herself with pouring a large cup of coffee, while Kiba looked quizzically past her at Shikamaru.

He was giving his lazy friend the most obvious 'Dude! Did you hit that?' look; halfway between jealousy and admiration. Unable to clarify things out loud, Shikamaru merely shook his head a fraction of a centimetre, knowing that his friend had got the message when his expression changed.

Kiba still looked confused, but was now helping himself to food; piling it onto his plate with great speed.

"Oh. Morning boss!" said Ino brightly as she spied Jiraiya lying on the floor, propped up on his elbows. "Didn't see you down there."

"No-one seems to…" grumbled the older man from his low vantage point. "Wolf-boy over there was trying to use me as a damn footrest earlier."

As usual, Jiraiya was giving a very good impression of genuine irritation, but it was clear to everyone that he was silently quite happy. Shikamaru deduced that his mood was probably due to being called 'boss' by Ino. Jiraiya had an ego like an enthusiastic puppy. Stroke it, or give it attention, and it would love you forever.

Ino passed the plate of food that she had been loading up for herself down to Jiraiya and began to fill a plate of her own. By now everyone was wolfing down their breakfast hungrily, with even Shino slightly less composed than usual.

"Did the party go alright then?" asked Ino in between mouthfuls. "I arrived too late to really see anyone."

"Oh yeah! Really good!" Bellowed Kiba, having been revitalised by the fried food and coffee which he was shovelling down with none of Ino's grace. "No idea where Shino knows all these people though! Did you see Rock Lee? I couldn't believe me and Jiraiya got to meet him!"

"Who?" asked Shikamaru and Ino simultaneously. Shikamaru felt a little colour rise to his cheeks and opened his mouth to say sorry.

"Don't you dare apologise Shikamaru!" Admonished Ino with a smirk. "Moron… Anyway, who the hell is Rock Lee."

"He's the world kickboxing champion!" yelled Jiraiya, having quickly gulped down an enormous mouthful to allow him to rejoin the conversation. "You've seriously never heard of him?"

"How do you know him Shino?" asked Kiba.

Shino merely shrugged and carried on eating.

"Well that was enlightening." Remarked Ino, earning herself a round of laughter and even a brief twinkle of Shino's eyes. "Sounds like it was a good night… I'm really pissed that I missed it."

"Yeah, what happened Ino?" queried Kiba. "Shikamaru was fretting about where you might have gotten to."

Shikamaru found it hard to read Ino's reaction to Kiba's question. Her face noticeably fell as she remembered her troubles from the previous night, but she covered it quickly with feigned disinterest. More strangely though, Shikamaru thought he saw a flash of a pleased expression cross her features for an instant. His overactive imagination told him that she was happy to hear that he had been worrying about her; his rationality had a different opinion.

_Ino's right… You are a moron…_

"It's a long story Kiba." She replied, returning the conversation to a less heavy topic deftly. "What's everyone up to today then?"

With that, carefree small talk returned, with Kiba holding court on discussion over the most effective hangover cures.

Shikamaru ate his food with relish, letting the idle chatter wash over him until he was feeling full and a little more energised. At this point he began to chip in with a few comments of his own, enjoying the casual, lazy morning with his friends.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya and Kiba decided to head off shortly after 2 o'clock. Upon making the snap decision, they began rushing around the apartment to collect all the things that they had impossibly managed to spread into nearly every room.<p>

"Your shoe Kiba?" yelled Jiraiya from the bathroom.

"Yep, cheers!" Called Kiba in return. "See if you can find my watch in there too."

Whilst the pair continued to rush about, Shikamaru, Ino and Shino sat on the comfy sofas in the centre of the room, trying to stay out of the way.

Ino was getting worked up at their antics.

"How the fuck have they managed to lose this much crap!" She shouted to no-one in particular. "This is beyond belief…"

Shikamaru did his best to placate her, but he knew he had small chance of doing so, given Ino's fierce temper. He knew she wasn't really angry, just grumpy from fatigue.

"They do this every time Ino… I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it."

"Think of it as a little entertainment." Drawled Shino as his dark eyes roved across the apartment, following Kiba as he raced by.

"I guess I'll have to, won't I?" She muttered, sinking back down into her corner on the sofa and propping up her crossed legs on Shikamaru's knee.

_How can she look that cute when she's scowling…_ thought Shikamaru. Although again, he hadn't been expecting the physical contact from Ino, he remained a little more composed this time around; managing to pass off his brief tense-up by shifting position slightly.

She was wearing her dress from the night before, and her smooth legs were stretched out luxuriously across the couch, with even more of her flawless thighs than usual being shown off due to the upward angle of her legs.

The three friends lapsed into a comfortable silence, too tired and relaxed on the sofas to bother with the effort of a conversation.

Soon, it seemed that Kiba and Jiraiya had finished making a mess of the apartment in looking for their things, and were ready to leave.

"See you both at work tomorrow, great party Shino!" roared Kiba, waving as he spun out of the door and into the hallway. His wild gesticulating and lack of care earned him a crack on the knuckles from the doorframe as he exited. "Fuck!"

"Serves you right you noisy prick!" yelled Ino, giggling at the spectacle without malice. "See you tomorrow night Mr Jiraiya!"

"Nah, I won't bother opening up shop this Monday." Yawned the white-haired man. "You can take the evening off. Bye all, thanks Shino."

"Oh, shit, yeah! Thanks Shino!" called Kiba from some way down the hall, finally remembering to thank his host.

"Thanks Mr Jiraiya! Bye Guys!"

"See you soon." Added Shikamaru. "You might want to make a move as well Ino. We're gonna be cleaning up soon…"

"That's alright; I'll stick around and give you a hand."

"You clearly haven't taken a good look at the place…" commented Shino wryly. "Besides, I'm taking a shower before all else."

With that, Shikamaru's solemn roommate walked back down the darkened corridor and into his room, his hand raised above his head in a brief wave as he went.

"We'd better make a start then." Said Ino as she jumped brightly to her feet with an undaunted smile."

"Really?" moaned Shikamaru. "…what a drag…"

"Get up you lazy git." Said Ino, still smiling and offering a hand to her sleepy looking companion.

Shikamaru groaned, but pulled himself to his feet with Ino's help in a resigned sort of way. He knew how quickly her outlook could change from understanding to irritated and had no desire to ruin her good mood. As cute as he thought she looked when she was scowling, Ino looked by far her most beautiful with a smile on her face.

With heavy hearts the pair turned around to look at the rubbish strewn apartment, then set about their work with little enthusiasm.

* * *

><p>"Shino isn't coming to help us is he...?" moaned Ino, forty minutes later.<p>

They had been working hard to create some semblance of order in the flat, but even with recycling bags full of empty cans and bottles lining the far wall of the room, the apartment still looked in pretty poor shape.

"I wouldn't keep your hopes up on that score, no."

"If it wasn't his birthday, I would be in there right now beating him within an inch of his life." She muttered rebelliously.

The thought of Ino in another man's bedroom filled Shikamaru with such a ridiculous surge of possessiveness that Shikamaru actually chuckled out loud at how stupidly his subconscious was reacting to every situation he found himself in recently.

"Oh right! I guess you don't think I'm up to the challenge, do you?" She exclaimed at Shikamaru, unable to stop herself from laughing a little as well at her boasting. "I could knock out the pair of you with one arm tied behind my back!"

"I don't doubt it Ino…" Responded Shikamaru earnestly.

He paused in wiping the kitchen worktop down for a moment, to smile in a conciliatory way at Ino. Gazing across at her, he realised how tired she looked.

"It's well past 12 o'clock Ino. Your boyfriend has probably left your flat by now… You don't have to keep helping. You could go home and catch up on sleep."

"I suppose so." She sighed, revealing a competitive streak as she went on. "I can't help feeling like I've been defeated by this place though."

"Can't win at everything Ino."

"_I_ can!" She joked, putting on a haughty face which caused Shikamaru to crack a smile.

Her joke reminded Shikamaru of a conversation from the night before, where Kiba had boasted about being 'easily the most humble person' at the party. He really enjoyed how easy it was to have a conversation with Ino in a similar fashion. He knew she would probably never be his girlfriend, but it gave him heart to know that they would make good friends instead; even if it wasn't what he really wanted.

He was jerked away from any further melancholic introspection by Ino sitting down to put her shoes back on.

"You're probably right though Shikamaru… I think I'll throw in the towel and go and have a snooze at home…"

Despite having been the one to suggest her heading back home, Shikamaru was suddenly sad at the idea that Ino would soon be leaving. He attempted to cover his disappointment by adopting a TV announcer's voice and joking:

"And in breaking news, the great Ino Yamanaka, worldwide champion of everything, has given up for the first time in her illustrious career of being a perpetual badass!"

Her answer was to hit him firmly in the face with one of the surrounding cushions.

"Don't take the piss Shikamaru!" Ino warned with a wicked grin. She raised a hand provocatively before continuing. "Remember Naruto?"

Shikamaru felt another smile creeping on to his face; something which he found happened with alarming frequency in Ino's company. _Why does she have to be so damn perfect…?_ He wondered morosely.

"Are you laughing at me?" Ino carried on with a smirk.

"Christ, no!"

"Good…"

She crossed over to him, having donned her precarious heels from the night before. As if her legs weren't shapely enough, the impractical footwear brought every inch of Ino's graceful musculature that bit closer to the surface. She was all defined calves and toned thighs as she stalked across the living room towards Shikamaru.

_Fuck… look at her face you ass!_

Concern for his friend overrode his inner turmoil.

"Are you walking home in those?" he asked sceptically.

"I'll manage… Besides, I don't actually live far from here."

Internally, Shikamaru groaned. The last thing he needed was closer proximity to this: the most troublesome woman he had ever met.

"Oh, that's good." He lied.

"Thanks for putting me up for the night Shikamaru. I really appreciated it." Ino's fierce, faux-arrogant banter face had been swept away by one of sincere thanks.

"No problem…" He demurred, failing to mention the many questions and doubts her presence had raised in his mind.

She nodded briefly then stepped in and rose to her tiptoes to hug Shikamaru. Her arms were lifted high above his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, surrounding him with her warm presence and her intoxicating scent. Shikamaru had to forcibly repress his first instinct, which was to breathe in deeply to fully savour this indescribable smell.

Even while his lungs screamed out to inhale, his only reaction was to lift his arms and gently return Ino's embrace.

With her slender arms linked at the back of his neck, Shikamaru's face was forced inwards slightly and he found himself dangerously close to nuzzling her neck. Reminded of the scenario he had played out in his mind earlier that same day, he wondered how Ino would react to a bolder, more confident Shikamaru making that leap in intimacy.

_She'd kick seven bells out of you…_Came the pithy comment from his overactive subconscious. He had to concede that it might have a point.

As she pulled away, Shikamaru couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. If she'd held him any longer, he would have started to go red in the face from lack of oxygen, but somehow, for close contact from Ino, suffocation seemed so very worth it.

Ino drew back, sinking down to her normal height; eyes level with Shikamaru's jawline. On impulse she pressed full lips softly into Shikamaru's cheek.

In the face of yet more unexpected familiarity from Ino, Shikamaru froze up, ruining the smooth motion of the end of the hug. His forearms remained either side of her waist, too close together to allow her to slip out of his grip. At the same time her arms were still falling, unaware of the hold-up in the natural end of their embrace. They came to rest on top of his own, leaving the pair of them standing self-consciously, only inches apart, within one another's personal space.

Standing in an awkward, half-embrace, Shikamaru cursed himself, before finding himself captivated by the confusion in Ino's huge blue eyes.

They were getting bigger, too, he realised with shock.

_You're imagining it…_ Came the snide internal commentary he had come to expect whilst in the presence of the intriguing blonde.

He wasn't.

Millimetre by millimetre Ino was closing the gap between them.

In what he would spend the rest of the day considering the worst move of his life, Shikamaru tried to speak. His faltering attempt at talking, along with the fact that he was breathing heavily due to having been holding his breath, meant that what eventually emerged from his mouth was a mumbled 'sorry', which could easily have been praised as an eloquent apology. In a toddler.

At the near silent outburst, Ino smiled. It was the smallest smile Shikamaru had ever seen. The corners of her mouth had lifted the tiniest amount required to qualify as a smile. Something told Shikamaru her heart wasn't in it…

"S'fine." She murmured in return, finally extricating herself from Shikamaru's arms.

She walked slowly to the door, her eyes still on him. He stood dumbfounded, rooted to the spot by his appalling reaction to her attempted kiss.

"Say thanks to Shino for me, yeah?" She asked as she began to close the door behind her with a better attempt at a smile gracing her face, and lighting up her features temporarily.

Shikamaru could only nod in return. This was the first time he had ever seen even a glimmer of nervousness in Ino's manner and he wasn't quite sure what to do.

The door closed with nearly no sound, and Shikamaru remained stock-still in the centre of the room listening to clack of Ino's heels receding in the corridor. When he could no longer hear her footfall, her let out a truly huge breath that he hadn't realised he'd been saving, then slapped himself full force in the face.

"…Dick…"

* * *

><p>Ino wandered almost aimlessly down the street, letting the breeze play over her skin and cool her down after her encounter with just how boneheaded Shikamaru could be.<p>

She was mad. Partly with herself, but mostly with him.

He had probably assumed that she was still all vulnerable and confused after her break-up, and some inexplicable code of ethics prevented him from going through with what he clearly wanted.

Or he was just too scared.

Or maybe both.

To tell the truth, her break-up hadn't left her feeling even vaguely vulnerable. Sure she'd cried, but she had been in a mood of high emotion; admittedly, mainly rage; and had lost control of herself for a second, but woe betide that Shikamaru should ever feel like he'd taken advantage of a woman in distress!

"Fucking gentlemen…" she grinned, conscious of the irony in the fact that the group of men she was currently cursing were the one group that most girls would kill for.

After how blind to the situation Shikamaru had been, she couldn't excuse how composed she had remained when leaving the apartment, and nor could she explain it.

As she pictured the stupid pineapple head she had come to be so fond of, she was surprised so realise that she was still smiling. Stranger still, the anger that she had been famous for in high-school had rapidly receded, leaving her feeling happy and relatively content.

Still grinning, she shook her head and snorted in laughter, which was an odd mix of ridicule and affection.

"…Dick…"

* * *

><p>That's more like it! Only 2 weeks for this chapter :P<br>I hope people are still enjoying the story, and thanks a lot if you took the time to review - it helped a lot with the motivation!

As usual, any comments you have on the story so far are welcome. I'm serious... write one on how shit my sentence structure is... It all helps!

I started Chapter 9 this evening... MORALE IS HIGH!


	9. Invitation

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It will centre around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the events that happen to him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 9 - Invitation**

Shikamaru rubbed his stinging cheek with discomfort, regretting slapping himself in a moment of anger. He had never met anyone so intriguing, or so easily able to make him feel like an idiot. For someone normally so in control; a master of carefully analysed responses; Shikamaru was finding himself increasingly bewildered at how unlike himself he behaved whilst around her.

He turned away from the door that he'd been staring at since it had last closed, to find Shino watching him through his tinted, circular glasses, calmly eating a second plate of breakfast.

"Why did you hit yourself then call yourself a dick?" he asked, reiterating exactly what he had seen happen in that mysterious, irritating way of his.

"Ino…" he sighed in answer.

"Ah, Ino."

The pair stood in a slightly awkward silence, broken only by the muted sound of Shino chewing his bacon, mouth politely closed, of course; Shino was always one for rigid social protocol.

"I think she tried to kiss me…"

"Well, wasn't that what you wanted." Replied Shino, his face showing no emotion.

"Yeah… at least, I think so…"

"So you pushed her away?"

"No." Shikamaru's face was wrinkled in confusion, still trying to piece together what had happened. "Actually, I said sorry."

"And that didn't turn her on!"

Shino's tone had been one of sarcastic surprise, but as always, his face remained blank as he took another mouthful of his food.

"Look, sorry I can't be as smooth as you in these situations." Ground out Shikamaru, finding himself uncharacteristically angry at Shino's pithy comment. "For me, it's a big deal to sleep with a friend!"

_Little harsh, don't you think? _Shikamaru thought to himself. He was tired and cranky, and picking a fight deliberately to take his mind off his ridiculously stupid recent actions.

Anyone who didn't know Shino well would have said that Shikamaru's outburst didn't affect him at all. Shikamaru, however, could see his friend's reaction clearly. His face, as always, remained impassive, but you could see the impact in the slight slump of his shoulders, or the fractional slowing in his eating pace. Subtlety was most definitely the name of the game with Shino.

"It wasn't like that."

"I'm pretty sure it was, Shino…"

"Trust me, it wasn't."

Shino looked up from his plate and across the room at his friend, before turning and walking back into his room. When he didn't close the door behind him, Shikamaru realised that this was just a change of venue, not the casual dismissal he had first thought. Hurrying to catch up, he entered Shino's room.

The lights were down low, as usual.

Apart from the enormous bed, every available surface was given over to housing Shino's pets. Vast terrariums lined the walls, filled with all manner of exotic insect life. When Shikamaru first came to view the apartment, this had really freaked him out. He had never been squeamish, but the sheer quantity and baffling variety of fauna inhabiting the room where Shino slept had really thrown him.

_I wonder what his female friends make of them when they make it back to his room…_

"They don't seem to mind." Said Shino, apparently reading Shikamaru's mind.

"So what 'was it like'?" asked Shikamaru, bringing the conversation back to the original topic.

Shino rearranged his position as he sat on the bed, placing his empty plate beside him.

"I didn't sleep with Sakura."

"Yes you did." Replied Shikamaru, nonplussed. "All I'm trying to establish is how it happened."

"Seriously, I didn't sleep with her. I slept on the floor last night. Exactly where you're sitting now, in fact."

"What, really?"

Shino sniffed and sunk down lower into the hollow he had created in his blanket.

"I'm not sure I should be telling you this. But I kind of have to..."

"What happened dude. You're really drip-feeding here, spit it out…"

"She cried." He said, simply.

_Sakura doesn't cry… _thought Shikamaru, wondering if there was any way he could have misheard Shino. _She throws punches._

"You're making that face again."

"What face?"

"The one like a monkey trying to work out what 16 x 21 is."

"Hey!"

"Nope, you've lost it. Now you just look angry…" He said, in a tone that suggested he didn't realise that he was the cause of Shikamaru's irritation.

"Anyway…" Shikamaru calmed himself and motioned for his evasive roommate to continue. "Sakura, crying…"

"Right, yeah. I went inside to get another drink, she followed me in from the balcony, then dragged me into my room.

Shikamaru was finished with encouraging Shino for every scrap of information. He remained in stony silence until his roommate carried on.

"She just sat down on my bed, saying nothing. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't respond. In the end, I told her I was off to get her something to drink, and as I turned around to leave the room she just started crying."

"What was the matter?" asked Shikamaru with concern.

"Neji, I think."

"Ahh…"

Shino nodded in mute agreement at Shikamaru's assessment.

"She seemed fine in the morning though. A little ashamed perhaps, but maybe I assumed that it was shame because I still thought you and her had slept together." Shikamaru sighed, trying to remember exactly what Sakura had looked like earlier in the morning. "Perhaps I just confused her sadness for embarrassment because of my assumptions about what was going on…"

"About that…" Started Shino, propping himself up on a pair of pillows. "Did you really think I slept with her."

"Well, yes."

"Hmm." An unreadable expression flashed across Shino's face for a fraction of a second. In the instant it was visible; it could have been anything from melancholy to rage. "Thanks Shikamaru…"

"Thanks? Why?" Shikamaru was genuinely bewildered.

"We've all known that Neji and Sakura have had a thing going on for ages. It's just a bit disappointing that you'd believe that I'd fuck up two of my friendships, and a potential relationship, just for a cheap tumble under the sheets on my birthday."

Shikamaru's face fell as he realised the extent of the implied insult he'd been paying his roommate by going along with the story that Sakura had told him.

"Shino, I'm so sorry, man! I didn't think!"

"It's okay, I guess." The barely noticeable hard edge to Shino's voice had gone as swiftly as it came; turning into one that seemed almost weary. "Not your fault."

"It's not?"

"Not really. I mean… You've known Sakura how long?"

Shino let a pause hang after the rhetorical question, remaining quiet only for as long as it took him to push his rounded sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose. Why he still wore them, even in the dim light of his bedroom, was an utter mystery to Shikamaru.

"Pretty much forever." He answered his own question. "If she told you that was what happened, what reason would you have to not believe her."

"I guess so Shino, but it's still quite a shitty thing to think of a friend…"

"Water under the bridge."

"Thanks Shino…"

Shikamaru sensed that the conversation was coming to an end. Rising to his feet he ambled past his placated roommate.

"Shikamaru?"

"Yes." He replied with a frown, feeling a chore coming on.

"Be a dear… Finish clearing up the apartment…"

* * *

><p>"Shikamaru! Shikamaru! Wake up!"<p>

Shikamaru's lazy eyelids drifted open, to find a brown blur hovering over him. Squinting to try and give the object clarity, he winced as the blaring voice rattled around him sleep-addled head again.

"Finally!" A toothy smirk came into view. "Sleep well?"

A second person made himself known, speaking in a genial and considerably easier-on-the-ears tone.

"If there is one thing he can do consistently, it's get his rest…"

"Lazy prick."

Someone flicked his nose. Hard. It stung like hell, but at least objects were beginning to come into focus. He was finally able to make out the uniform mosaic of polystyrene ceiling tiles spreading out from the random point on the roof he found himself staring at.

"Shikamaru." Came Choji's friendly tones. "It's 9 o'clock. Coming into work early to curry favour with the boss doesn't work if you sleep the morning away."

Shikamaru nodded his thanks to the pair as he sat up, fisting his hands and rubbing his eyes vigorously. He didn't feel any better for his half an hour of fitful sleep, despite having barely slept the previous night anyway.

He had found cleaning the last of the party away to be an exhausting task, and went to bed expecting a night of deep sleep. As it happened, sleep would elude him for the majority of the night, and at 3 a.m., thoroughly pissed off from lack of rest; Shikamaru gave up and passed the time wrapped up in a blanket in front of the television.

He may have caught an hour of sleep overall in the night, pieced together from the numerous times he dozed off whilst watching whatever shitty indie horror film had happened to be the most passable thing on at the ungodly hour.

This unfulfilling night's 'rest' was what had caused Shikamaru's impromptu nap after he arrived early in work; completely unprepared for a gruelling Monday.

Random worries and over-analysis of his latest setbacks on the Ino front had ruined an entire night for him, and looked set to fuck up much of the following day as well.

"Thanks for the alarm-clock routine Choji." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose and frowning as he adjusted his position in the chair to something less… horizontal.

"What about me!"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Kiba? Go fuck yourself."

Kiba could tell that Shikamaru wasn't genuinely angry, but still expressed a puzzled expression at being sworn at, seemingly out of the blue.

"What? I helped, though!"

Choji fixed him with a wry expression and explained, having worked out the source of Shikamaru's irritation.

"You flicked his nose so hard that it's still red."

"What did you expect? A medal?" Added Shikamaru.

"I got the necessary results." Replied Kiba, in a voice suggesting he was a politician trying to desperately defend his decision to bomb another nation.

There was a long pause, wherein Choji and Shikamaru shared a knowing glance at their exasperated friend's expense.

"Jeez Kiba, calm down."

"He's only messing with you."

"No need to take the piss out of me guys!" Yelled an affronted Kiba.

"Looks like we've crossed some sort of line Shikamaru." Joked Choji, who as always, was enjoying the banter with an easy smile. "In the interest of being fair; Kiba, here's your chance to retort."

Kiba opened his mouth, ready to continue the mock debate; presumably at full volume.

"At no more than 40 decibels." Added Choji as an afterthought.

His shaggy haired friend frowned at being outmanoeuvred and fell silent, cut off within the first syllables of his response. Looking away in 'petulant teenager' mode, he muttered in a way that was clearly audible to his friends.

_Hardly fucking worth it if you ask me…_

They all had a good laugh at the conclusion to their conversation. Choji, ever the pragmatist, brought an end to proceedings.

"Right guys, better crack on. I just saw Tsunade poke her head out of the office to check up on everybody."

* * *

><p>"God I needed this." Slurred Kiba through second colossal mouthful of his sandwich.<p>

"See, that would make sense if you hadn't had anything to eat today, but the truth is that the only time you've stopped snacking, is to talk." Choji picked a flying crumb from the front of his shirt and flicked it away. "And you don't always stop to talk…"

"Oh whatever." Scoffed Kiba, ironically spraying the newly arrived Sakura with bits of lettuce as he did so.

Sakura glared by way of a hello, whilst she too was cleaning food from her top.

Shikamaru completed the group which was enjoying a lunch break on the comfy sofas that made up the recreation area in the far corner of the office floor. The two couches formed an L shape, facing out of the panoramic windows on the apex of the building. Shikamaru had sat on the far right, placing himself outside Kiba's range. Unfortunately this left Sakura with only one place to sit, next to Shikamaru, and well inside their shaggy haired friend's firing line, from where he sat bickering with Choji on the other sofa.

"Okay morning Sakura?" asked Shikamaru lazily.

Sakura turned to face him with a tired smile. She was showing her exhaustion only in her manner, since she had covered the small dark crescents under her eyes with restrained application of sea-green eye shadow. It matched her irises perfectly, accentuating her already attractive features. Sakura had always been a master of tastefully applied make-up.

Shikamaru, having known her for many years, was almost immune to her charms, yet always took note of her pride in her appearance. With Sakura, how well presented she was was usually a good indicator of her mood. If she had bothered with make-up to this extent, it usually meant she had needed a bit of a boost, and was probably feeling a little low.

"I'm fine… Just knackered…"

"I think we all are." Shikamaru admitted. "Kiba would be showing it too if he hadn't had so many of those energy drinks."

Choji cut in with a grin.

"I'll give you a yell when they wear off and he crashes. It won't be pretty, but it may well be hilarious."

Kiba was not going to be outdone.

"Then I'll just keep drinking them! And live forever!"

"What do they put in these things?" Wondered Sakura, sniffing a discarded can and wrinkling her nose prettily.

"God knows…" muttered Choji with exasperation.

"Actually, who cares?" said Sakura. "Just stop drinking them. They might not actually be bad for you, but you're definitely more irritating when you've had a couple of cans…"

"Okay, mum!"

The group chatted their way through their lunch break at a leisurely pace, too worn out to bother going for a walk to get away from the stale atmosphere of the office. The conversation was muted and subdued, but only from tiredness, rather than any ill-feeling between the four friends. Soon, it was time for them to return to work. Sakura left first, in order to visit the bathroom before getting back to her desk. Kiba was next to leave, sloping off with characteristic appalling posture to give a presentation two floors below.

This left Choji and Shikamaru sharing a comfortable silence in the corner. Remembering the party, Shikamaru realised that he'd wanted to ask Choji a question and broke the docile pause with his query.

"Hey, what happened with you and Hinata in the end?"

Choji smiled lightly.

"Nothing much… we were up most of the night talking, and then I walked her home. Neji's flat isn't far from mine…"

"Are you happy with how the evening panned out for you then, or a bit disappointed?"

"No, pretty happy to be honest…" said Choji truthfully. He trusted Shikamaru implicitly anyway, but on top of that he knew that it was very difficult to hide something from someone as analytical as his friend; even when he was in a sleep-deprived state. "I've only met her a few times over the past two years. No sense in rushing things."

"Good point." Nodded Shikamaru in agreement. "Still, you might not see her again for a while."

Choji shook his head reassuringly.

"No, don't worry. Neji is away for a few more days so we said we'd meet up again."

"Let's face it. She'll probably need a bit of company after a few days alone at Neji's." Chuckled Shikamaru. "That place is pretty soulless…"

"If it's not chrome-plated or grey-blue, it's not furniture!" Joked Choji.

"Anyway." Said Shikamaru, trying to bring the conversation back to its original topic. Choji being seriously, (and actively), interested in a girl was a relatively rare occurrence, so Shikamaru wanted to make sure that everything was going alright for his friend. "I suppose we'll be seeing Hinata at the pub sometime this week then?"

"Almost definitely." Smiled Choji.

"Good stuff. I hope things go okay with her, dude."

"With who? Has tubby got a girlfriend?" Came a boisterous voice from over Shikamaru's shoulder.

The lazy young man turned around at a leisurely pace, having already mentally connected it with the smirking face of Naruto Uzumaki in his mind's eye. As expected, Naruto was wandering over with his usual smile covering his face. He wore a crisply pressed shirt and trousers, but no matter how neat his clothes might be, his 'just-out-of-bed' hair always made him look slightly dishevelled. His tanned face was now free from the livid bruise that Ino had given him the previous week.

"Oh, didn't see you there Uzumaki…" Growled Choji. "I guess you can't blame me, you aren't dressed like a fucking tangerine for once…"

Choji was the most easygoing man that Shikamaru knew, but commenting on his excess weight was a bad move. He was well-built, and could throw one hell of a punch.

Naruto clutched at his heart with mock pain, still smiling and chuckling slightly.

"Woah! Sorry, dude!"

"If you were sorry, you wouldn't have said it…"

"I… I guess that makes sense." Muttered Naruto with a tortured expression of deep concentration. This was fundamentally why Naruto was so much easier to deal with than Sasuke. He wasn't a truly mean person. If you had done something to genuinely annoy or aggravate him, he could be vengeful, but he wasn't malicious for malice's sake like his cohort.

"Anyway." Naruto blurted out, as he tried to regain the thread of the conversation he had just started. As he spoke, his right hand messed up his hair uncaringly, moving by force of habit alone. Shikamaru was certain that the reflex had begun when Uzumaki had first realised how much girls seemed to like it. "They're waiting for you downstairs Akimichi. Inuzuka's already there."

"Oh shit… Cheers!" Said Choji, grabbing his things rather hurriedly and dashing off. Naruto stood by as Shikamaru's portly friend made his way over to the stairs.

"Arriving at a meeting later than Inuzuka… Humiliating…" He chuckled.

Since Naruto didn't seem to be out to cause trouble, Shikamaru gave him the benefit of the doubt and joined him in a brief laugh at the comment. The sound seemed to startled Naruto, who turned to face Shikamaru lounging on the couch and nodded in greeting.

"How're you, Nara?" He asked, in some vain attempt at sounding casual. His expression was a little immature, with his bottom lip slightly protruding in a petulant manner, like a child who was being forced to apologise by a parent directly after an argument.

"Yeah, not bad…" Said Shikamaru, silently wondering at what arbitrary point in the future Naruto would consider his small-talk obligations to have been met. He gestured at the side of his face as he replied. "How about you? Alright?"

Naruto squinted at him, wondering if he had meant anything by it.

"Alright, I suppose." He replied, deciding that Shikamaru hadn't been trying to pick a fight. "She did a number on me, huh?"

Shikamaru wasn't sure what the correct response to that was, so kept quiet until Naruto gave him a clue by breaking out in renewed chuckles.

"I'd mind what you say around her, Nara!" He joked as he turned to leave, still laughing under his breath.

"Too bloody right…"

* * *

><p>In an almost unheard of turn of events, Kiba suggested going to the pub after work…<p>

"Where, though?" Pondered Choji out loud. "Jiraiya isn't opening up tonight, he said so at Shino's party."

"True…" Muttered Kiba, cursing under his breath at the setback.

Shikamaru let the heavy silence continue as his friends tackled the problem as though all life on Earth depended on it.

"You're not trying to solve world hunger here, guys…" He prompted, when he felt that his friend's had dwelled on the issue for a wholly inappropriate amount of time. "Just go to a different bar."

"I suppose so… but it won't be the same." Said Kiba with a look of ridiculous sadness.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Yelled Sakura, who had been silently fuming over her companions' deplorable lack of initiative from her perch on Choji's desk. "Why does it have to be Jiraiya's? You wait forever for a meal, more often than not you have to pour your own drinks… And we sure as shit aren't going there for the friendly and warm customer service!"

Her outburst seemed to jolt the others from wallowing in the temporary loss of their favourite watering hole. Choji grinned ruefully at how seriously he had been taking the relatively minor problem, whereas Kiba just shrugged off the previous thread of conversation with the easy and infectious energy he was known for.

"Fine! How about that metal bar near Choji's flat?"

"I could go for that." Said Choji, happy with the resolution.

"One condition!" Said Sakura, with the undercurrent of impending violence. "You two…" She singled out Choji and Kiba menacingly, with the first two fingers of her right hand. "Cannot look at each other, and go 'DUDE!', every time a Slayer track comes on…"

"Fine." Choji sighed, whilst his shaggy haired friend merely huffed petulantly.

"Let's get a move on then." Shikamaru put in, aware that his friends could still manage to waste another ten minutes even now that a decision had been made. "In case you haven't noticed, we're the only people left in the office…"

The group gathered their things and made their way over to the lifts on the far side of the office. It was overcast outside, but didn't look likely to rain, and the group were relishing the idea of some fresh air. Unexpectedly, they nearly ran into Director Tsunade as they rounded the corner to the stairwell and lifts.

"Oh… Good night, boss." Mumbled Sakura, who had always been a bit unsure of herself around the powerful woman, despite being a force to be reckoned with herself.

"Good night." She purred, as she span past them, managing as she always did to sound simultaneously alluring and dangerous, even through a simple goodbye.

As she walked past in her standard revealing attire, she turned as an afterthought and locked eyes with Shikamaru, who was straggling at the back of the group.

"Good to see you working late, Nara." She affirmed. "Keep this sort of attitude up, but remember, my 'good books' are still a long way off…"

Shikamaru was a little nonplussed as to where this was all coming from, so merely nodded in response, managing to summon what he sincerely hoped was a casual smile, and not some sort of smirk.

Tsunade inclined her head to him, before turning back to the group.

"Yes Inuzuka… Those are my breasts…"

In the next few seconds, Kiba cycled through at least three shades of red, before becoming extremely interested with a fraying patch of carpet near the wall.

"Anyway. Good night." She repeated, sparing them a wink at Kiba's expense before stalking off back to her office.

As the lift doors closed and the group found themselves safely out of Tsunade's earshot, they turned as one towards Kiba, who headed off their mockery with exasperation.

"Oh, shut up!" He cried, his face gradually returning to its usual tanned pallor from the beetroot shade it had previously shown.

Without actually exchanging words, the group dropped the idea of making a little extra fun at Kiba's awkward encounter, realising the extent of his embarrassment.

"Tsunade is fucking weird at the moment…" Exclaimed Choji, echoing the group's thoughts. "I mean, she was always weird… but only in a scary way…"

"Now it's more…" Said Sakura, searching for the correct word to end the sentence.

"Flirty?" Suggested Shikamaru tentatively, fervently hoping he wasn't the only one who felt her behaviour was getting more suggestive by the day.

"Yeah, pretty much…" Agreed Sakura, with an expression of nearly pained confusion.

"Still scary as hell though…" Opined Choji thoughtfully.

Sakura smiled anxiously, before voicing her thoughts on the matter.

"Oh yeah! It would take more man than the three of you put together to deal with a woman like that…"

The group broke out into nervous chuckles as they thought with no small amount of trepidation on what a lady like Tsunade would be like in bed. Even Sakura seemed to be mulling over the matter with more than a little concentration. Luckily, they were roused from this dangerous train of thought as the lift door slid open, exposing them to the chilled atmosphere of the overly air-conditioned foyer.

"I bet Shino could handle her…" Muttered Kiba, gradually recovering from the shellshock of being caught staring at his boss' tits.

"You might be right there…" Choji laughed as he put on his best Mission Impossible 'briefing-room' voice. "If anyone has the training required, it's him!"

* * *

><p>The group exited their workplace, breathing deeply of the less recycled air outside. It was still clogged with the mechanical tang of car exhaust and other pollution, but they were grateful for the clarity that breathing in the cool evening air brought.<p>

They ambled along the pavements at a leisurely pace, headed in the direction of Choji's flat, and their decided destination. It should have been no more than a twenty minute walk, but no-one had either the energy or the impetus to pick up the pace. They were content to arrive a little later so that they could prolong a cheerful walk through the darkening streets.

Choji lagged behind the group, on the phone to Hinata, having difficulty trying to describe where the pub was to her, since she was far from her home town. As another wave of jokingly exasperated laughter washed over the three other companions from behind, Shikamaru looked back and smiled at the sight of his oldest friend chatting away with Hinata.

He was jerked back to the conversation he should have been paying attention to when Sakura punched him on the arm.

"Oi!" She cried. "I'm talking to you…"

"Don't worry, dude." Kiba said evenly. "You haven't missed anything interesting."

Sakura fell easy prey to Kiba's goading and retorted.

"Kiba, stop staring at my breasts." She shot back smoothly, a twinkle of amusement in her eye as she caused Kiba to seize up as he recalled his earlier trauma.

"I wasn't, I mean I didn't… I…" He babbled, before catching himself and responding with a look of abject defeat across his features. "You're a dick, Sakura…"

"One-nil!" She yelled as the trio continued to trudge onwards, now getting near to their destination.

They lapsed into a brief silence as Choji finished his conversation and caught up with them. They rounded the last corner towards the bar they intended to enter, as the recent re-addition to their party filled them in on his phone call.

"She'll be here in half an hour or so." He explained, unable to keep the happiness from his face. "Just needs to get dressed. Apparently she's been watching movies in her pyjamas all day."

"Great news, dude." Smiled Shikamaru as he patted the big guy on the shoulder. He was glad that Choji would have little more time with Hinata. There was only one thing that could rain on his friend's parade tonight. "Kiba?"

"What's up?"

"Best behaviour tonight, alright?" He warned.

"Why are you only saying that to me?" He bellowed, not noticing that he had answered his own question with the absurd volume he had uttered it at. "Sakura could just as easily be the one to cock things up!"

"How exactly?" Glared Sakura.

"I dunno…" He muttered, realising he hadn't prepared himself for a debate with Sakura. Inspiration came to him mere moments later, and he diffused the situation with a grin. "You could start another fight!"

" Oh, man!" Choji roared with laughter. "THAT, was fucking priceless…"

"That bloke didn't have a clue what he'd gotten himself into…" Chuckled Shikamaru with his eyes slightly glazed as he recalled the memory with glee.

The laughter over this recollection lasted them nearly the entire rest of the street, with Choji still wiping his eyes dry as they came to a halt outside the bar they had been trying to get to.

"Right!" Shikamaru said, as in a rare moment of decisiveness he was addressing his friends as if he was marshalling troops into battle. "First round is on Kiba!"

"Why exactly?" Kiba wondered; unaware of any debts he owed.

"To teach you a well-deserved lesson about ogling your boss!" Answered Choji, catching up with Shikamaru's train of thought.

"Never get caught!" Bellowed their boisterous friend with a smirk, as he punched a brazen fist into the air, then ducked out of the street and into the bar. A brief snatch of pounding music issued from within as the door swung open and shut, leaving the remaining trio outside in the relative quiet of the street, laughing heartily at Kiba's antics.

Sakura broke up the laughter first.

"Shika? Isn't that your phone going?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks." He smiled at Sakura as he wondered how he could've missed the blaring ringtone issuing from his jacket. He fished the ringing device from his pocket, before answering the call in his usual unconfident fashion. Shikamaru did not like phone calls. "Uh, hi…"

"Hi Shikamaru… It's Ino." Came the blonde's distinctive voice.

_It's not really that distinctive… You're just obsessed…_

_Thanks for the input, _Shikamaru told the snide voice within him. _Now fuck off…_

A thousand other thoughts surged through Shikamaru's head all at once. He felt his mouth go dry and his face begin to heat up, as he realised this was the first time he had spoken to this intriguing, infuriating woman since he fucked up the end of her stay at Shino's party the day before. Almost unbearably embarrassed, Shikamaru feigned nonchalance as he continued the conversation.

"You okay?"

Somehow, he could already tell from the tone of the four words she had actually spoken, that she wasn't okay.

"Not at my best, no." She snorted derisively. "You?"

"Fine, I guess."

_Why am I being so standoffish? _He wondered.

There was a pregnant pause between the pair of them, and then they both tried to restart the dialogue by blurting something out awkwardly.

"Hey, Ino, are you alri…"

"Listen, are you doing anything tonight?"

"No." Shikamaru answered without thinking. This was already dangerous ground, but Shikamaru could hardly help himself these days when matters concerned Ino. "Not really…" He added, a little more honestly.

"Do you think you could come over?"

She let the question hang in the air for a moment, before continuing.

"I'd understand if you didn't want to, but I could really use someone understanding to talk to."

Almost on auto-pilot, Shikamaru once again responded before he really had a chance to think things through.

"I guess so…"

_Fuck, what are you doing?_

"What's the matter Ino?" If he was going to make the mistake of a lifetime, he at least wanted to go into it with a little more information.

"I don't really want to talk about it over the phone, Shikamaru…" From the pauses in the way she spoke, Shikamaru could tell that she was pacing nervously as she spoke to him. "Can I give you directions over the phone as you walk?"

"I'll have to get a taxi, Ino. I'm near Choji's house at the moment."

She hesitated at this, and Shikamaru had pretty much given up the hope of hearing her respond when she finally piped up again.

"I thought you weren't doing anything, I don't want to spoil your evening."

"No, it's okay." Shikamaru smiled ruefully. "Friend in need and all that."

"Sure?" The line crackled in what Shikamaru assumed was a laden sigh. "I'm not likely to be great company…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll try to find a cab now. Text me your address."

"Sure. Thanks Shika. I really appreciate you doing this…"

"No worries."

Shikamaru hung up and turned to face his friends with a bewildered expression on his face. As he tried to replace the phone in his pocket, he noticed that his hands were trembling slightly. He was distracted from noticing any further signs of anxiety he was displaying by both his friends offering their opinions to him at the same time.

"This means trouble…" Sakura muttered, as she was drowned out by Choji's exuberance.

"Great news, Shikamaru!"

"Is it?" Shikamaru spoke quietly, stretching out of his usual slouching posture and pinching the bridge of his nose with a pained expression.

"It's definitely not, Choji." Sakura sighed wearily. Even as she did so, her hands settled on her waist; a classic display of 'squaring up for an argument' – Sakura style! Luckily for Shikamaru, she was distracted by a sudden thought, and something not unlike despair flashed across her face. "Oh, damn it…"

"What?"

"If you're shooting off to meet Ino, and Choji is gonna be entertaining Hinata, I'll have to deal with Kiba singlehandedly."

Not thinking for a second, Choji let out a snigger, which earned him a warning glance that would have cowed an angry mountain gorilla.

"I mean, I love the guy to death, but he's so… loud!"

Sakura kicked the pavement dejectedly, muttering something about not even being able to drink much because of having work in the morning. As Choji watched the moody teenager performance with silent amusement, Shikamaru felt the phone in his pocket vibrate against his chest again; no doubt Ino with the address. Having already lost a few more minutes, he attempted to sidle away from the duo unobtrusively.

"Stop right there…" Sakura said as she gripped his forearm, stopping him before he could even begin to inch towards the edge of the pavement.

_Shit…_

Moments later, it was Choji's easy rumble of speech that provided Shikamaru with his escape at long last.

"Let go of him, Sakura." He murmured. "Grown man, can make his own mistakes…"

The rest of his sentence tailed off distractedly as he flapped a huge arm, as if to say 'etcetera'. The reason for his lack of attention became clear as the leisurely gesture became a friendly wave to the rapidly approaching Hinata.

"Listen." Shikamaru instructed Sakura, the more belligerent of his two companions. "I'm wasting time…"

She released his arm reluctantly, then winced in apology as she noticed her friend massaging life back into his compressed limb. Shikamaru nodded his thanks, tapped Choji's arm by way of a goodbye, and began to backpedal his way towards the taxi rank on the opposite curb. As he saw the newest arrival reach the group, he realised how rude he was being.

"Hey, Hinata! Have a nice night!"

The shy yet startlingly pretty young woman's eyes shot straight to the floor between her feet, before creeping back up to meet Shikamaru's gaze with gradual confidence.

"Mm!"

As Hinata and Choji turned towards the bar, and the warmth within, Shikamaru shook his head at the indigo haired girl's anxiety. She was attractive, kind and great fun to be around, and Shikamaru, analytical as he was, couldn't seem to put his finger on what had made her struggle so much in certain social situations. Just before he turned to step up onto the opposite pavement, he caught the eye of his remaining friend outside the bar.

"Don't do anything stupid to that girl! She has a boyfriend…"

Shikamaru realised with a jolt that he hadn't kept Sakura up to date with what he had learnt since the party, and attempted to reassure his friend.

"Not anymore! They broke up!"

A look of concern became a glare in less than a heartbeat.

"Then you definatly don't do anything to that girl, Shikamaru Nara!"

_Surnames?_ Came a mocking little voice from within his psyche. _Oh, dear, we are in trouble…_

Shikamaru nodded calmly to placate her, and registered the gentler look that he now received from his old friend. Her aqua gaze now occupied an acceptable middle ground between reproach and excitement for a friend.

_That'll have to do._ Thought Shikamaru as he ducked out of the evening chill and into the air-freshener and cigarette smoke battleground that was the atmosphere of a London taxi.

* * *

><p>"Where to, boss?" Came the cheery voice from the driver's seat.<p>

Shikamaru reeled off the address from the backlit screen of his mobile, despite having already committed the information to memory after a brief scan of the text when it had first arrived.

"Sure."

"Cheers."

The black cab pulled away from the curb smoothly, with none of the violent acceleration Shikamaru had expected from one of the city's many perennially busy taxi drivers. Settling back into his seat and strapping in his belt, he dozed lazily in the rear of the vehicle, aided by its remarkably steady motion. Some thirty minutes later, Shikamaru shook himself into slightly more alert state, and decided to call Ino again, to get to grips with the situation before he was thrust right into the midst of it.

Ino picked up the phone almost instantly.

"Hi."

"Hi. I'm on my way." Shikamaru informed her, albeit a little stiltedly. It struck him then, that he hadn't really thought through how to winkle any extra information out of her. The irony of failing to prepare properly for a phone-call whose entire purpose was to prepare him for something, gave him cause to split into a brief smile, and bizarrely gave him enough confidence to speak up again. "What's up?"

"Eh… my Ex has just been round to collect his stuff and give back his key." She sighed heavily, causing a crackle of distortion over the dodgy line. "I just feel a little rough, you know."

"What happened?"

"We argued." Another sigh punctuated her simple remark. Shikamaru could vividly picture the fluttering breath issuing forth from those perfect, full lips that he had been within inches of only days before. As unhelpful as the thought was given how controlled he needed to be upon arriving at Ino's home, Shikamaru's mind couldn't help but linger on the tantalising image. "That's all we seemed to do near the end…"

Another hiss washed over the line, in what Shikamaru presumed to be a weary chuckle.

"He had the most uncanny way of making things turn out to be my fault… _Bastard…_"

"I'll be there in around fifteen minutes." Said Shikamaru. Having not been quite sure how to respond to her reminiscing, he had shamefully fallen back on the mundane.

_If I can't even hold this sort of conversation over the phone, what chance do I stand in person?_

"More like ten minutes, to be honest." Announced the cab driver frankly.

Surprised at the interruption, Shikamaru nodded an uncertain thank you when he caught the man's eye in the rear-view mirror, and clarified to Ino:

"Maybe ten…"

"Good." Came the minimalist response.

Sensing the conversation winding down, Shikamaru tried to pry a little more of her reason for needing to see him in person out of her, conscious that his phone call hadn't yielded much in the way of results so far.

"What do you reckon I can do when I get to you?"

"I don't know, Shika. Help. Talk." A biting edge had crept into her voice, heralding the end of the conversation to Shikamaru.

"I hope I'm up to it…" Shikamaru retorted. Though normally even tempered, Shikamaru couldn't help but get irritated at Ino's anger being misdirected at him. As he so often did after speaking out in frustration, Shikamaru felt an immediate pang of guilt. "See you soon."

There was a brief, but pregnant pause as Shikamaru waited with bated breath to find out how well Ino had taken his outburst. She sighed again, though this was no surprise. In the two times Shikamaru had spoken to her that day, she'd had been sighing like it was going out of style.

"You will be. Sorry about all this, Shikamaru…"

Happy that her final sentence had returned to a somewhat softer tone, Shikamaru hung up, replacing the phone in his jacket. A little wiser for his gambit, he was still hugely nervous about arriving at Ino's and could feel the tension coiling in his stomach.

"Sorry for interrupting back there." The driver muttered. "I blurted it out without thinking."

"That's alright." Shikamaru replied, scratching his chin as he did so. "I didn't think you were listening…"

Bewildering Shikamaru, the driver laughed long and loud at this.

"Funny that… People insist on holding private phone-calls within metres of you, and then expect you to stick cotton wool in your ears for the duration. Don't worry; it doesn't piss me off… Just confuses the hell out of me…"

"Fair enough." Conceded Shikamaru, _he's got a point…_

"No matter! It's all between us, mate. Ever heard of the sacred covenant of cabbie-fare confidentiality?"

The breezy confidence of his driver finally brought an open grin out of Shikamaru.

"Never… Possibly because it's bullshit… I'm Shikamaru."

"Nice to meet you, Shikamaru. I'm Asuma."

Having introduced himself, Asuma looked over his shoulder to fix his fare with a cheesy grin. He was on the younger side of middle-age, with a cropped black beard and a face that somehow seemed simultaneously alert, and laid back. Having clearly filled the small-talk obligations required to begin taking liberties, Asuma turned back to the road, fishing a packet of cigarettes out of the jacket on the passenger seat and waving them at Shikamaru.

"Mind if I smoke?"

"Hey, it's your car…" Shikamaru shrugged, only to be met be another chuckle.

"The car may be me mine, but we're sharing the air supply. Seriously, do you mind?"

Shikamaru motioned for Asuma to continue, before immediately regretting his easygoing decision. The acrid smoke of a particularly foul cigarette circulated around the car, stinging his eyes and nostrils. Over the quiet choking of Shikamaru attempting not to fall into a fit of racking coughs, Asuma wound down the rear windows with a smirk, and continued the conversation with some idle speculation.

"Argument with the girlfriend?"

"No… Well, sort of…"

Not sure why he was bending the truth to such an absurd degree, Shikamaru was spared the difficulty of explaining how he 'sort of' had an argument with 'the girlfriend', as Asuma spotted him shaking slightly in the chilled air that was now gusting into the cab, rapidly clearing the smoggy air.

"Sorry about that. You have two options. Suffocation, or shivering…"

Shikamaru recalled the strangling cloud of smoke from minutes earlier, and decided that he'd rather freeze. To take his mind off the stinging cold, Shikamaru tried to engage his amicable driver into further conversation; admittedly with a rather cryptic statement.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Is that the problem?" Came the shrewd response.

Despite the grave nature of Shikamaru's problem, he couldn't help but chuckle at the other man's perceptiveness.

"It was. She had a boyfriend until the night before last…" He paused, both for breath and to internally ponder why he was confiding in someone he'd met less than an hour beforehand. "She's feeling pretty down about, so I have to go round and see what I can do to help."

"Rough job, man." Winced Asuma, as he shook his head. "You keep yourself in check, alright? The last thing she needs right now is her friend making a pass at her…"

"That. Is the problem." Said Shikamaru, once again finding himself trying to cast the unwelcome dilemma from his mind.

"Good luck. You seem like a decent sort. I'm sure you won't fuck things up."

As the taxi pulled gracefully into the curb, Shikamaru's eye narrowed into amused creases.

"Christ, I hope not…"

He tipped generously, then shuffled over to the pavement side door.

"Thanks a lot, Asuma."

"Anytime, Shikamaru. Take it easy… And good luck!"

Moments later, Shikamaru was standing on the curb, shoulders turned in against the cold, as the taxi drove off just as effortlessly as it had arrived. For the first time he could remember, he found himself waving a taxi driver off, as though it had just been a friend giving him a lift.

* * *

><p>Turning resignedly, Shikamaru looked Ino's building up and down.<p>

Lights were on in several of the apartment's living rooms, shafting out into the gloomy evening. He found his eyes drawn to one of the expansive panes on the sixth floor, where a woman sat, curled up against the window frame and staring aimlessly out at the pavement opposite him. She was wearing a patterned blue dress, and she held a knee-length grey cardigan tightly around her. A pair of large black headphones cradled a face framed by loose, flowing blonde hair.

She appeared nervous, as she idly nibbled at the corner of her right sleeve, tapping her right foot absentmindedly to the music. Stretching a bare leg out luxuriously, till it lay parallel to the floor, her head tilted till her temple rested lazily on the glass that separated her from the cold.

The subtle change in posture brought her eyes over to the other side of the road, and she perked up visibly as she found herself staring directly at Shikamaru. Ino gave a restrained wave, then stood up and padded out of sight, leaving her friend to stare blankly at the aquamarine walls that remained in his field of vision. He only dwelled on the sight for a moment, then suddenly began to jog over to the front door of the building, hands remaining lodged in his pockets as he did so.

"Here goes nothing."

* * *

><p>Hi Guys. It's been a while...<br>I'd love to have a decent excuse, but I'm afraid I don't.

On the plus side, longest chapter of the story so far!

This is a bit of an odd one to publish. While the story is meant to be ShikaIno, I love writing about the other characters as well, and it just so happens that this chapter spreads the plot quite evenly between all the minor characters. Except Sasuke... But who cares about that guy... right? :P

We get a bit of ShikaIno stuff towards the end, and the whole chapter serves as a bridge between the party and the next time the main pair see one another, so I think it's necessary, but if you find it boring - SORRY!

Anyway, I've had Chapter 10 planned out since I started the story, and I'm already a 1000 words in, so hopefully I can have that out in a less ridiculous timescale. Please persevere and stick with me!

Please let me know what you think... I'm a whore for reviews... ;)


	10. Together, Alone

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It will centre around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the events that happen to him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 10 – Together, Alone**

It was something that had veered violently from uncertainty to full blown fear that gripped Shikamaru as he reached the foot of the building. Standing in deep thought wondering how he was meant to get in, he almost missed his opening as he realised that Ino was buzzing him in from upstairs. Catching the door in the nick of time he entered the building, and found an odd finality in the way that silence now reigned in the stairwell, now that the door had clamped shut on the calming thrum of city traffic.

_It's make or break time now, Shikamaru…_

He climbed the stairs with a familiar feeling of trepidation clenching within him. It was a mirror of the way he had felt on his way to Tsunade's office a few days before – but possibly worse. Even for someone as clever and quick-witted as Shikamaru, the sheer number of things that could go wrong tonight was causing him no small amount of grief.

_Which floor am I on now? _He wondered, mouthing the words out, but not making a sound. _Christ, Shikamaru! Get it together… Pay attention._

He briefly paused to look down at his phone and check the time, surprised to find a pair of texts waiting for him. He wasn't unduly surprised at having missed them as they arrived. He had been distracted. First by Asuma, and once he'd left the cab, by a desperate urge not to urinate or flee.

'Remember what I said; tread very softly!' Came the sage advice from Sakura. _Funny how it always sounds like a threat coming from her_, Shikamaru mused. He thumbed a pair of buttons to swiftly bring up the next message. _Kiba; this should be good…_

'Sakura just told me where you've gone. GET IN, DUDE!' Shikamaru smirked at the bloke-ish ignorance of Kiba's message. _Way to misread a situation, mate…_

A nervous smile brought to his face by the 'encouragement' of his friends, Shikamaru began to climb again, now with a little less reluctance. He reached the top floor, and after carrying out a little mental gymnastics, worked out from the position of her window which door was Ino's. She was right at the far end of the corridor.

As he passed the halfway point, a man appeared near Ino's apartment exiting from the adjacent door; marked 'roof'. Shikamaru prepared to give a cursory nod of acknowledgement at the new arrival, but was cut off when the man stopped dead ahead of him, his body filling the narrow space in a way which would make it difficult for Shikamaru to squeeze past.

"You here to see Ino?" The man asked bluntly, without bothering to start the conversation cordially. He didn't wait for an answer, merely snorted softly and went on: "Christ, she isn't messing around."

_Ah._ Shikamaru caught up with events in a flash of realisation. _The Ex-boyfriend…_

A scathing retort escaped his lips before his brain had a chance to reason on whether or not it was a good idea to antagonise this man.

"No, she isn't. You were. That was the problem." Having said that, Shikamaru finally began to notice how much taller the other man was than him. He was lean and rangy, with a mess of stormy grey hair that almost brushed against the low ceiling. The lower portion of a narrow and solemn face was covered in stubble, making the man attractive, if in a rather rugged way.

He squinted at Shikamaru through dark eyes, not in a frowning or threatening way, but definitely not with a friendly intention.

"Hmm."

Unable to press on past the other contemplative man, Shikamaru stood still, wondering how he could at least continue the dialogue to a point where they would both be satisfied with the exchange and he could leave.

"I thought you left a while ago." Shikamaru thought out loud, hoping that this might be the spark that set their conversation in motion again, and dragged them a little closer to its inevitable end.

"I was on the roof… Smoked a few cigarettes, phoned some friends. I'm off to meet them now." He leaned against the wall nonchalantly.

_Super… He's here for the long-haul._

Shikamaru rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, shoving his fists down into his jeans' pockets.

"You aren't keeping them waiting?"

"They'll take a while to get there." Said the other man casually. "No point in rushing."

"Well I _am_ keeping someone waiting…" Shikamaru muttered, rapidly growing tired of the other man's no doubt feigned calm. This was unsettling. It wasn't quite out-and-out macho posturing, but if definitely wasn't friendly.

"Oh, sorry."

He shifted a fraction of a centimetre out of the way. Despite being confronted with a man displaying attitude of the most petty and irritating kind, Shikamaru kept his cool, and did his best not to give the Ino's ex-boyfriend the satisfaction of riling him. Assuming a similar 'couldn't care less' lean against the wall, Shikamaru struck up conversation as best he could.

"Fine. I'm Shikamaru."

"Kakashi." Came the grunted response, as its source sized him up lazily.

"So… How are you?"

As Kakashi made to answer, no doubt with something non-committal and trite, Shikamaru was spared the ordeal of having to listen to an answer he truly didn't give a fuck about. An angry female voice blared out over Kakashi's shoulder, causing both men to wince at its severe volume.

"Oh get out the way, Kakashi! Can't you see he's getting sick of your crap?"

Kakashi turned towards the interruption, finally revealing the welcoming sight of the far end of the corridor, and Shikamaru's destination. Ino stood with her hands on her hips, framed by the doorway and the light streaming out of her apartment into the dull walkway. In the bright glare, the edges of her hair looked like spun gold. Shikamaru found himself swallowing with newly returned nerves, as Kakashi jerked a bemused thumb back at him, gesturing to Ino.

"What's he gonna do?" Kakashi said, almost just wondering out loud. He stooped forwards as he spoke, bewilderment plain on his face. Despite his eyes looking heavy-lidded and tired, they actually conveyed a great deal of expression. Shikamaru could easily imagine being able to gauge the man's mood even if most of his face was covered.

"With any luck, teach you some fucking manners!" Came the quick fire rejoinder from Shikamaru's back-up. Her tongue was knife-sharp when her blood was up.

Kakashi ran a hand through his incredible mess of silver hair ruefully, squinting in an odd sort of eye-crease which said; 'you got me'. Hands were shoved firmly into pockets as he spun around and slouched off past Shikamaru. A mumbled 'see you' was his last utterance before he disappeared into the gloomy stairwell, and out of sight.

A moment passed in silence between the remaining pair, before Shikamaru sighed deeply, before revealing a tired grin as he gazed wistfully at his soon to be hostess.

"I would kill for a cup of tea…"

A wicked smile formed the young lady's reply, as she revealed a pair of empty wine glasses.

"Screw that." She said, her voice clear and firm, as she turned and padded further into her home, her absence becoming the invitation for Shikamaru to follow.

In a bizarre turn of events, Shikamaru found himself threatening his own consciousness with a rhythmic mantra of: _Just one glass, just one glass, just one glass_…

Shaking his head slowly as he found an evening which had started off challenging, turning into something nigh impossible to succeed in, Shikamaru followed his friend into the flat, softly closing the door behind him, and leaving the corridor in darkness.

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><p>Turning away from the door, he found himself in a brightly lit and modernly furnished apartment. It was nothing like the cold, impersonal space which Shino's taste in furniture and furnishings had created. Pale blue walls enclosed the space, and a small amount of clutter littered the surfaces of the room; not enough to be considered truly messy, but enough to make the place seemed lived-in, as apposed to the clinically neat confines of Shikamaru's flat.<p>

"Come in." He heard her voice from further into the apartment. Somehow she had made the welcoming request sound more like a demand.

The short entrance corridor ended abruptly after around a metre, opening into a modest living area. A small kitchen formed the right hand corner, whilst to Shikamaru's left; a comfy blue sofa looked out of the huge windows, angled indirectly at the television in the corner. Through the only other door in the main room of Ino's home, Shikamaru spotted a luxurious double bed, and just past it, the entrance to an en-suite.

Scouting for a place to put his jacket in amongst the open DVD cases and books, Shikamaru soon gave up, and stood with it held awkwardly in his hand, until Ino dragged it impatiently from him.

"Give me that. Shoes off by the door." She nodded imperiously, as she wandered over to the kitchen island and hung it over the back of one of the chairs surrounding it.

Despite the orders she was reeling off with a frequency and commanding tone that would have made a sergeant blush, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice the slowness of everything she did, and the telltale downcast flicker in her eyes. She wasn't feeling her best, no matter how hard she tried to hide the fact with slightly overbearing bluster.

Accepting a fully laden wine glass with a nod of thanks, Shikamaru decided the time was right to try and get to the bottom of the situation. If he got things sorted quickly and without getting drunk, he could leave without having managed to ruin everything. Shikamaru realised deep down, that this was a vainglorious hope.

"So what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked, taking a tentative first sip.

"Nothing." She replied, almost comical in her over-defensiveness.

Shikamaru placed his drink down on the counter and patted her on the shoulder as he walked past her.

"Alright, see you tomorrow!"

She grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip, but when he looked back to her face, she was grinning cheekily, although in the same subdued manner she had been displaying since Shikamaru had arrived.

"Okay! You've made your point, sit down."

"…Well…?"

"Well I'm feeling like a bit of a mess at the moment." She admitted, speaking quickly, as though she needed to get it off her chest as fast as possible. "Seeing Kakashi again today really threw me."

"That's only natural." Reassured Shikamaru, watching with trepidation as she took a second large gulp of her drink. He carried on with a smile. "He seems to have a gift for unsettling people."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Shrugged Ino. "It might have seemed like he was picking a fight, but he probably wasn't. He's not actually a bad guy."

"Apart from the infidelity…" Prompted Shikamaru, causing his friend to giggle softly.

"Apart from the infidelity." She agreed, with the shadow of a smile still on her face.

To diffuse the burgeoning silence, Shikamaru attempted to make a joke.

"If Kakashi took all of his stuff away, why is there still so much crap in here?"

She punched him on the arm. Hard.

"Shut up." She muttered, walking away from him. "Come sit down. I wasn't kidding about the shoes by the way."

Shikamaru rubbed his dead arm absentmindedly, as he kicked off his shoes and left them near the door as instructed. Judging by the clutter in evidence around the flat, Ino couldn't be considered house proud, but she definitely had rules, and you definitely stuck to them…

By the time he reached the sofa, Ino had already set up camp at its far end. She sat leaning on the armrest, with her legs daintily crossed in front of her. Her right elbow was propped up on the true backrest, so that the cool glass rested gently against her temple. He took his seat in a less unorthodox position, on the free end of the couch, his head angled to meet her thoughtful gaze.

"Why are you here?" She breathed into the room, seemingly rhetorical. Shikamaru decided to grace her unsettling question with an answer, in a bid to ease the tension that had suddenly gripped him upon her proclamation.

"Believe me. I've been wondering that all evening." He chuckled self-consciously.

As though she'd just been reminded that she wasn't alone, Ino sat bolt upright as he announced his presence. She shook her head, as if to shake off the previous, sincerely odd, thread of conversation, then took a slow, calming draught of her wine. It struck Shikamaru then, that she may have had a few glasses before he arrived.

"Thanks for bothering to come and see me, Shikamaru. I know I shouldn't have disturbed you, but I didn't really know who else to call."

Shikamaru remained mute, still confused by her bizarre question.

"I suppose you've got as good a chance as any of cheering me up."

"I'll give it a shot, but I'm not promising anything…" Shikamaru muttered, soon becoming surprised to find that his honest self-deprecation had been interpreted as humour. Ino's subdued laughter filled him with relief, as a small amount of the maudlin atmosphere dissipated. "That was a complete fluke. It won't be happening again…"

Against all odds, this further comment brought an even more open grin out of his companion, eliciting yet more shock in Shikamaru. _Maybe I'm not completely useless…_

"So come on. What did Kakashi do to upset you today?"

Ino's smile died slowly. _I guess I spoke too soon._ As much as he regretted nipping Ino's emerging good mood in the bud, Shikamaru knew that he needed to get to the bottom of things if he was ever going to help, and then leave without screwing anything up.

"Nothing. Like I said, he's not a bad bloke, really." Ino shook her head. "Turns out he was a shitty boyfriend, but he's not the sort to be spiteful about it."

Shikamaru let his silence be the prompt for her to continue explaining.

"It wasn't anything he did. It was just, him, being there, I suppose…"

Although Shikamaru didn't quite understand, he was glad to finally start getting to the root of the problem.

"Just, awkward I guess?"

"Umm, kind of." She wrinkled her nose prettily, with eyes closed in thought. "Not really. It was casual enough, just unpleasant. It needed doing. Having all his stuff around wasn't exactly going to help me get over him, but at the same time I actually needed to see him face-to-face to get rid of it all."

"Unpleasant, but unavoidable." Confirmed Shikamaru, as Ino shifted position, bring her legs up in front of her and hugging them gently. He noticed then that she had painted her toenails purple, and grinned at her twin obsessions with that colour, and the blues he saw all over the apartment, in a similar shade to her eyes.

"What are you smirking at." She almost growled, backhanding his nearest arm playfully. "Is my plight that amusing to you?"

Shikamaru glanced back up at her face with a smirk flitting across his face, and an apology tumbling from his lips, in case he had actually irritated her. He was sure she'd taken it in jest, but it was always best to make sure; especially with a woman as unpredictable as this.

"No, not at all. Sorry." He murmured, before explaining his grin without thinking. "I was just, looking at your toes…"

He tailed off. _You were what?_

She looked at him with confusion, squinting as she tried to determine whether she was somehow being cryptically insulted.

"What's so funny about my toes?"

_Yeah Shikamaru,_ came the snide internal question, whose tone sounded like it was sincerely enjoying the hole he had dug for himself, _What's so funny about them?_

"Nothing!" He blurted out, a surge of blood shading his cheeks faintly. "They just look nice… in that colour…"

Ino laughed at him.

"You tit." She shook her head at him in disbelief, shaking with mirth. As she settled down, she regarded him with deep blue, and incredibly bemused eyes. "A smirk generally isn't the best way of expressing that sentiment."

"No shit…" He muttered, in disbelief that he'd managed to walk away from that faux-pas unscathed. He necked the last of his drink in a futile attempt to quell his nerves.

Still chuckling, Ino snatched the glass away from him as soon as the last drop trickled into his mouth, making her way lithely to the kitchen to refill.

"I'm alright thanks, Ino. Work tomorrow."

"Because you've never been hungover at work before?" She scoffed, pouring them both a new glass despite Shikamaru's protests.

"Good point, but seriously, I'll go without, I don't feel like drinking…"

Ino turned back to him, left leg cocked and with a hand firmly on her hip.

"Remind me where you were going when I called you."

Shikamaru sighed, as he realised where she was going with her latest instruction. He should have known that this would happen.

"…A pub…" He said with resignation.

"A pub." Ino agreed, smiling sweetly. "So shut the fuck up."

Shikamaru gave up, as he so often did when faced with even a minor obstacle. Some debates were worth seeing through, some would be an exercise in futility.

_So much for one glass…_

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><p>Over the course of the next few glasses, conversation rapidly moved away from dwelling on Kakashi's visit, and into the realms of banal chatter. The pair were both content in one another's company, and idly passed the time with light-hearted conversation and eerily similar senses of humour.<p>

Shikamaru found himself quite conflicted at the change in tone of the atmosphere. Although it was admittedly far easier to have this sort of conversation with Ino, he was concerned that they weren't actually dealing with the crux of the problem. In the end, however, he surmised that taking her mind off things was about the best he could hope for in terms of solutions to her situation. Plus, he hadn't been slapped, shouted at, or asked to leave, which Shikamaru saw as encouraging signs that he wasn't quite as socially retarded as he often suspected he was.

Apart from the toenail thing. That had just been fucking traumatic.

"So he was checking out Director Tsunade that obviously?" She sniggered, doubling over as Shikamaru did an exaggerated impression of Kiba ogling a woman obliviously.

"And then she called him on it."

"Seriously? How?"

"Oh I dunno, something really sarcastic…" Shikamaru wracked his brains, trying to recall his boss' acerbic retort. "That was it. 'Yes Inuzuka, those are my breasts.'"

"Nice!"

"I know. He looked like he'd been hit by a bus…"

"I wish I'd been there to see that." She grinned, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Shikamaru drew in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself from the uncontrollable laughter of moments before. He found it worrying how easily Ino could bring him out of his shell, when he was normally incredibly quiet and reserved in social gatherings; even amongst his closest and oldest friends.

"So if Hinata was there with Choji. Does that mean you left Sakura at the mercy of Kiba?" She wondered, in a comically over-the-top voice that suggested she had discovered a bloody crime scene. "That's cold, Shikamaru. Even for you…"

"Even for me?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Ino giggled, slightly tipsy.

"Nothing, it just sounded dramatic…"

"Well, as long as you had a good reason…" He replied, shaking his head in disbelief at how silly she was being.

With a jolt of alarm, he spied Ino's legs stretching out across the sofa, towards him, and casually got up to stand looking out of the expansive windows. She had rested her legs on him before, at Shino's party, and clearly didn't mean anything by it, but the breaking of these physical boundaries still made Shikamaru a little uncomfortable, given the feelings about this woman that he was trying to suppress.

As he finished collecting his thoughts, and turned back around to face Ino, he leant back on the reinforced glass. She was sprawled out on the sofa, feet dangling off one end, head resting at the other, holding her wine by the stem of the glass as it rested on her softly moving stomach.

"I…"

Shikamaru gave up trying to ask for his seat back before he began. The look of content on Ino's face told him that he would be onto a loser there. Instead, he finished the wine he'd been nursing in an effort not to get drunk and do something stupid, and placed the empty glass silently on the coffee table between him and the thief of his position on the sofa. He remained standing there for a few minutes, his hands shrugged calmly into his pockets as he enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere that had developed.

"I wasn't going to kick you or anything." Ino informed him almost primly out of nowhere, tilting her head to face him, which inadvertently caused her fringe to ghost across her nose as it swept back into its usual position over her left eye. The gentle contact elicited a sneeze from her, and she glared at him when he smirked at the resulting snuffle of sound she produced.

He raised a hand with his trademark docile lack of haste, apologising for his amusement without requiring a word.

"What do you mean?"

She sniffed at him impatiently, as if the answer was obvious.

"You jumped up like you'd heard shots fired the moment my leg started moving." She explained cautiously, despite the momentary irritation she had displayed seconds earlier. "Have I developed a reputation for violence, or is physical contact from me really that repellent an idea?"

Shikamaru was shocked by this awkward, faintly embarrassed side to Ino, and made to reassure her at once. He rounded the coffee table and swept down to sit on the floor, his back resting against the centre of the sofa, and his head turned to allow him to look at Ino sincerely.

"God no. No, nothing like that." He squeezed her forearm, which dangled off the sofa right next to him, in an attempt to emphasize the point. "You just startled me, that's all…"

She shivered at his touch, but as soon as he removed his hand and the gentle pressure it had brought, she smiled in contentment, and returned the gesture to his retreating limb.

_Crisis averted… for now… _Shikamaru felt an internal wave of relief at Ino's acceptance of his explanation. As he survived yet another dangerous situation without any major consequences, Shikamaru was shocked to hear a rustle behind him, as Ino shifted position.

What surprised him further was when he felt her slide down past his right-hand side, incidentally brushing against his shoulder as she moved down to sit on the floor directly next to him.

"I'll fall asleep if I stay lying down." She explained as she made herself comfy in her new seat. "I haven't had much sleep the past few days…"

"What about the past few nights?" Shikamaru asked, so unnerved by her proximity that he fell back on appalling humour as he tried to retain control of the interaction. Whether she was being generous, or was just sleep-deprived enough to be genuinely amused, she chuckled at his weak attempt at cracking wise.

"Fine, Mr Semantics!" She exclaimed, breaking the low volume threshold they'd been occupying for the past few minutes. "I haven't had much sleep in the last few nights."

"Lift your arm, Shikamaru."

"…What?"

"Lift your arm." She repeated, with an almost imperceptible pout. "I'm cold."

When Shikamaru failed to respond, she took charge, as she so often did, and grabbed him by the wrist. Lifting his limp arm and raising it above her head, she shuffled her body close to his, and lowered his limb to rest around her shoulders. As the skin of his arm came into contact with her shoulder, where her cardigan had slipped down, he noted that gladly, there was a noticeable chill to her body. Nonetheless, as honest as her intentions were, this was exactly the kind of situation he could not afford to be in, however much he truly wanted it.

_Perfect._ He thought inwardly, somehow making the bitter word emerge sounding like profanity. Ignoring the weary sarcasm which laced his previous utterance, another voice answered him as he analysed the latest turn of events. _Yes, yes it is…_

Ino's head moved against his right shoulder, and he dragged himself back to awareness as she looked up at him; blue eyes locking onto deep brown.

"Cheers. I'm comfier already." She smiled openly for the first time that evening.

"No worries. The men in my family have always made good furniture." He said wryly.

A puzzled glance and a brief wrinkling of the brow was all it took to get an explanation out of Shikamaru.

"My mum used to walk all over my dad…" He enlightened her, with a nostalgic smile entering his features. "Come to think of it, she walked all over me as well… She was such a pain…"

Ino joined him in a brief chuckle over Shikamaru's recollections, before teasing him gently.

"Walked all over you, huh? I don't find that hard to believe. You're too bloody lazy to bother fighting your corner."

Shikamaru conceded the point with a magnanimous nod, shifting his weight by spreading his free arm out to rest on the lip of the couch.

"I suppose so, but I don't think we do ourselves any favours either. My dad used to say that the Nara's have always been attracted to strong, assertive women."

_You do realise you just said that to a strong, assertive woman who you have your arm around, right?_

_Moron…_

When Ino didn't take up the thread of conversation following Shikamaru's blunder, he felt panic rising swiftly within him. Had she taken his ill-advised comment at face value; a wistful memory of his father, or had she noticed the unintentional second meaning one could draw. Unlike Shikamaru, Ino wasn't a moron, and he strongly suspected that she had quickly noticed the hidden layer in what her friend had just said.

She still wasn't speaking, but reached out to reclaim her glass, and finish the last of the fragrant off-white liquid within it. When the vessel returned to the polished surface with a 'clack', the moment appeared to have passed, and Ino smirked in a delayed reply.

"So you're saying that you're too weak to take care of yourselves?" She challenged, with a cocky eyebrow raised. As hard as it was to take someone seriously when they were staring up at you at such an awkward angle, the conviction in her eyes made it difficult for Shikamaru not to. "You need someone to hold your hand?"

Whether she had not actually seen the unwittingly flirtatious side to what he had said, or whether she was covering it with bravado, was something that Shikamaru knew he was likely to never know the answer to. Managing not to dwell on it, he countered, as best he could. It had become increasingly apparent to him over the past week, how handy Ino was in a debate, and he didn't like his chances of coming out on top at the end of this one.

"Remind me who couldn't bear to spend the evening alone, will you?" He smirked as he entered the verbal joust he was almost destined to lose. His self-aware smile went unnoticed by his opponent, who had joined him in staring aimlessly out of the window, unable to keep her slender neck locked in such an awkward position any longer.

"Remind me who came running at the first mention of an invitation?" She shot back. The response was as cutting and sure as he'd expected, but exceeded even his expectations of Ino with its speed.

"I was just worried." He started falteringly, still reeling from her light-speed retort. "You already have such a reputation for being a wuss. It wasn't hard for me to imagine you crying alone in the dark…"

"Like you were in the changing rooms at work?"

_Balls…_He breathed. _Out for the count already. Pitiful display, Shikamaru._

"If there was money to be made in making you feel foolish, I'd seriously consider going pro…" She muttered, sniggering. The sound of her gently mocking laughter was inaudible, but Shikamaru could feel the telltale tremors through his contact with her, and spied the merest upturning of lips in the minute corner of her mouth which was still visible.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself. There isn't much glory to be had in getting one over on someone as pathetic as me."

"Pathetic?" She mused at his choice of words. "Angling for a compliment?"

"Please." Shikamaru shook his head in admonishment. "Now that would be pathetic…"

"What did you mean by it then?" Ino wondered. She had been slowly slipping down into a slouch, by virtue of the laminate panelled flooring, and wriggled herself back into a more upright position as she quizzed him.

"Well, you have to admit. I'm not what you could call… charismatic…" He explained thoughtfully. "I'm more than content to fade into the background most of the time. I'm not exactly a…" He paused, trying to fish for the right end to his sentence. "…Not exactly a Sasuke Uchiha, am I?"

"Thank fuck for that." She exclaimed, with genuine venom. "I'd be off to take a shower… Man that guy is oily…"

"Oh. You've had the pleasure?" He asked with interest. He was used to finding common ground with Ino already, but to find out she understood his loathing of Uchiha was an added bonus to their new friendship.

"Never spoken to him, no." She admitted. "But did you see the way he was looking at me on my first day?"

Shikamaru nodded, before swiftly realising that Ino couldn't see him.

"Nod." He blurted out without thinking.

"I know you did!" She snorted, laughing at his stilted, unintentional injection of humour into the conversation.

"I'm glad the embarrassment of others is amusing to you…" He muttered, not actually irritated, but presenting a close semblance of it for Ino's benefit.

"Hey, why do you think I made friends with you?" She joked, her head lolling back into the crook of his neck as she continued to chuckle.

Dragging the conversation away from the evergreen topic of 'stupid things Shikamaru has done lately', he restarted the Sasuke thread, interested to know how she'd come to dislike him.

"A look can't have been that bad." He pondered. "Not worse than slapping you on the arse, surely?"

"Way worse!" She disagreed fiercely. "You can deal with the Narutos of this world with ease. The real trouble is with the Sasukes."

She paused, fiddling with her shining hair idly.

"He has a way of moving which says: 'I'm better than you, and I know it'." She sniffed in derision at the attitude of the haughty raven-haired man. "I mean he might as well be handing out gift cards that say 'I think you are scum.'"

Shikamaru grunted in agreement, an uncharacteristically brisk and clipped response for him. Dull anger ebbed slowly away from limbs which seemed to give up halfway through growing tense with irritation. It amused Shikamaru to realise that not for the first time in his life, he wasn't just too lazy to talk about something which annoyed him; he was even too lazy to remain angry about it. He suspected that this surprising lack of ill-feeling had something to do with the woman who rested against him. Ino seemed to have a knack for almost leeching his low moods away.

"You're not wrong there…" He affirmed, building on his original monosyllabic response.

She sighed in fake weariness.

"We've been over this, Shikamaru. I'm never wrong. I'm the best. What was it you called me at Shino's party."

Shikamaru's near eidetic memory brought the relevant turn of phrase back to him in an instant. He regaled his companion with it, for some reason still forming his speech as a question. Perhaps on some level he didn't want her to suspect that he dwelled upon their exchanges as much as he inevitably did.

"Worldwide champion of everything?"

"Hah! Yeah, that was it!" She looked pensive for a brief moment after her short outburst of chortling. "The only reason I hit you with that cushion after you said that, was because I didn't want you to see the stupid grin I had plastered all over my face."

In a rare moment of inattention, Shikamaru was caught in the unusual sensation of giving an open compliment to a woman.

"You shouldn't have bothered. You have a nice smile."

"Well look who turned out to be a little charmer!" She teased in return, letting out a cute laugh. She had her face buried in her cardigan sleeves, where her hands rested on the knees she had once again brought tucked up close to her body. As if to counter-balance the sweetness of the giggle, her left arm rose, with the back of her fist coming down with a dull thump on his sternum.

As a gesture, it was clearly meant to be the closest approximation of a jokey punch she could conjure up from the angle at which she was sitting. In actuality, it had kind of hurt, and Shikamaru was glad his arms were spread out along the rim of the sofa, tensing his chest and meaning that he hadn't been winded by Ino's 'friendly' tap.

Bringing his knuckles across to massage a little life back into his chest, Shikamaru reflected that at least she hadn't been facing him, in order to see the pink tinge which had flushed his cheeks and neck when he realised that he'd told her that her smile looked 'nice'. The compliment wasn't an art form in which Shikamaru could claim any talent, and he could only count his blessings that Ino had laughed off the pitiful display.

"What happened there, Shikamaru?" She wondered, the seemingly innocent question setting his heart racing as he tried to keep up with the uncomfortable direction the conversation was going in. "You know, when we said goodbye at Shino's party."

_Shit…_Mouthed Shikamaru, realising too late that the conversation had reached the stage at which he was wistfully staring at 'dangerous ground' in the rear-view mirror. If Sakura had been observing the evening from within Shikamaru's mind, he'd be enjoying the mother of all headaches from the volume at which she would have just yelled.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't be coy. You froze up as though you'd just seen a violent murder!"

"Ah, right." Shikamaru murmured. He was caught in the headlights of this new line of questioning now, and knew that no amount of frantic backpedalling could return them to the easygoing chatter they had been enjoying before. "I don't know, Ino."

"Yes you do!" She exclaimed with amused exasperation. "God, why do you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Talk so guardedly. We're supposed to be friends, yet you act like revealing your emotions is going to make you physically ill."

She shook her head in disbelief, and Shikamaru could imagine the look of irritated confusion that was probably spread wide on her face as she did so. The slow movement of her head span her golden hair softly, letting a few strands come to rest on Shikamaru's bare neck. It tickled him immensely, but moving it would involve touching her hair, and such an act would further damage the barrier between them, which was already weakened to breaking point by her troublesome proximity.

He couldn't deny that her warmth against him felt good; even exhilarating, but he knew that he needed to leave soon, to avoid making a final mistake, which would inevitably make their relationship irreparable.

"So? What scared you back there?" She ventured, breaking the deadlock that her assessment of Shikamaru had brought on in the first place.

"Not giving up on that?" He sighed, though his bleak outpouring of breath quickly became a chuckle when Ino nodded assertively, causing her hair to ghost along his exposed throat.

"Not until I get an answer. You evasive bastard!"

They both laughed at the typical Ino outburst; belligerent, profane, but with just enough dry humour within it to take away its harsh edge. As a pinprick of light in Shikamaru's mind's eye winked shut, he gave up on the faltering hope of emerging from the conversation without having to give any revealing answers. Throwing caution to the winds, he told her.

"I though you were going to kiss me."

She hummed at his explanation, sending another pleasant reverberation through her body and into his.

"I was." She said, softly, and incredibly slowly, as if she had spent whole minutes of thought on the simple admission.

"Oh." Said Shikamaru, so stunned by her confession that all thought of tact left him as he blurted out a question rudely. "Why?"

"There you go again, putting yourself down…" She sighed, still almost whispering, although no-one but Shikamaru could hear her words. "You're attractive, intelligent, just… nice…"

Her head lolled forwards, gracefully rolling away from the shoulder she'd been leaning on. As she shifted, her hair almost washed over her shoulders, falling like pale-gold rain to shield even the sides of her face from Shikamaru's eyes. Through the blonde curtain that hid her from Shikamaru's curious gaze, her voice emerged muffled, and more vulnerable than he'd ever heard it before.

"But even though you were… _are_ all those things, I couldn't tell you why I tried to kiss you. I was still trying to work out what I was doing when I'd almost made it half the way to your lips, and then you stopped me."

"Do you know why you did it now?"

"No, I'm still confused as hell."

"That's two of us then."

He heard her snigger faintly, and clutched onto the brief burst of mirth as a lifeline, which told him that levity hadn't entirely left the pair of them.

"What would you have done? If I had kissed you, I mean."

"Oh you know me. I'm too much of a pussy to make up my own mind. I'd have done what I was told."

There was another short snatch of laughter, then a silence, and then an earnest question.

"Did you want me to kiss you?"

"I don't know…Ahh!"

Ino had pinched him on the outstretched leg, hard. Raising her left hand up so Shikamaru could see it clearly, she wagged her finger at him.

"Answers, Shikamaru. Answers. No more wishy-washy chatter."

"Alright, alright!" Shikamaru winced, rubbing the sore patch on his thigh where Ino had delivered her stern warning. "Yes, probably."

"Probably?" Ino startled him with a fit of guffawing. "Jesus, Shikamaru. I was getting more out of you when you were being all secretive. What is 'probably' supposed to mean."

"It's not straightforward, Ino."

"Just try."

"Fine. Yes, of course I did." He admitted, shocking himself with his own sudden candour. "You must have known how I felt. As shit as I am in social situations, I must have given the game away at least ten times by now…"

"You're weird." She chuckled softly.

"Huh?"

"Most people who say self-deprecating stuff like that… Well, they're just fishing for a compliment. But you actually believe yourself, don't you?"

"Look, it's not a matter of believing… It's…"

"You're going to go down swinging, huh?" She cut in with a sarcastic tone to her voice. "If we're supposed to be friends, then trust me when I say that you are a good person. Smart, in good shape, friendly, frequently hilarious… You've got attributes which people would kill for, and you can't even see them."

She let out a mirthless chuckle, and Shikamaru smirked when he heard a muffled utterance of Ino's all-purpose rejoinder; 'Moron'.

"Why did you stop me then?" She asked, before adding an explanation somewhat unnecessarily. "You know, from kissing you."

"I…"

"Don't you dare say 'I don't know', Shikamaru Nara! I will not be responsible for my actions."

Shikamaru laughed openly at her near psychic knowledge of how he was going to respond, making the loudest sound that had been heard in the apartment all evening.

"God, you are such a drag…" He muttered, somehow making what could appear to be an insult, into an affectionate comment. "Initially, I stopped you out of pure shock. I hadn't seen it coming at all."

"But then?"

"But then I was glad I had done it. You'd just ended a long-term relationship, you were tired, possibly still a little drunk from the night before… It wouldn't have been right."

"But it might have been fun." She pointed out, in a jokey tone.

Shikamaru didn't laugh. He wasn't quite ready to have his fledgling attraction to Ino be mocked. Showing yet more insight into her friend's thought processes, she promptly apologised.

"Sorry, bad joke."

"Don't worry. I get a lot of those. Friends with Kiba, remember?"

"How could I forget?" She chuckled.

"Thanks for being honest with me, Shikamaru." She said, seriously, giving his hand a brief squeeze where it rested on her shoulder.

"No worries. I'm just glad you didn't have to end up beating it out of me…"

"Oh, I got pretty close…"

The pair laughed briefly, filling the modest flat with the happy notes, before it fell away to a pregnant silence. Shikamaru couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at making a joke out of Ino's honest and heartfelt thanks, so tried to rectify the situation, resolving that he'd made enough of a mess out of the night, and should try to wind things down.

"Thanks, Ino." He replied, murmuring the words in an odd, thoughtful tone. On impulse, he followed by wrapping his arms around her, gently enveloping her in a tender hug.

He found himself instantly shocked at her reaction, which was to suddenly wriggle in his light grip, turning to return the warm gesture, and burying her face in his chest. Tremendously unsure of himself, Shikamaru let his arms come to rest on her arched back, still holding her against him gently, whilst noting how tense she felt under his touch.

Pulling away, she resurfaced slowly, with a shy smile gracing her features as she looked at Shikamaru. She stopped retreating, leaving the pair staring at one another with barely a foot of space between them. As she stopped, she tucked her usual fringe behind her ear, revealing her left eye, and fixing Shikamaru with the full intensity of her startlingly blue gaze.

He felt her cool breath playing across his skin, which did nothing to calm the racing of his heart as his body frantically tried to deduce what was going on.

He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly realised that he didn't have a clue what to say. This left him sitting there rather dumbly, with his lips slightly parted, forever teetering on the edge of speech. It seemed to him - in a fleeting moment of clarity amongst the haze of confusion in his mind - that Ino had done something similar; making ready to talk and then thinking better of it.

His eyes couldn't help but be drawn away from her piercing stare, and onto the equally attractive sight of her full, perfect lips. Before he knew what he was doing, he had closed the minute gap between them, and pressed his own lips against hers, in a nervous, but passionate kiss.

In the moments that followed, a multitude of thoughts warred inside Shikamaru's already overactive brain, as he deepened the kiss between them.

She had recoiled slightly at his first advance. Not far enough to prevent his questing kiss, but far enough that Shikamaru noticed the shock that her body language conveyed. It didn't matter - he had crossed the line, and all he could do now was carry on, and fervently hope for an end to the evening which still saw him still drawing breath.

They had started tentatively, with his lips gently pressed to hers, but soon after her initial shock at the gesture, she seemed to give into the situation, and let her head tilt over to the left, allowing Shikamaru to deepen the exchange.

Lungs screaming for air, despite the seemingly sedate nature of the kiss, Shikamaru broke away slowly, letting his forehead rest against hers as he drew in an almost fearful breath. His eyes were closed in shock at what he'd done, and inside his mind, the arguing voices that had erupted in chorus as he made his move appeared to have reached an agreement – namely, that he was an idiot.

His breathing rate returned to its shallow norm, but he couldn't bear to open his eyes, finding a small comfort in the reassuring darkness he currently experienced. He would have to look at her soon, and face the consequences of his mistake, but for now he hid inside his head.

He was so engrossed in trying to wish away the situation, that he almost missed Ino's breathy reply.

"Moron…" She whispered, not for the first, nor even the fifth time that evening. She had spoken at such a hush, that it was a wonder Shikamaru had heard her at all, but against the odds he had, and he painstakingly opened his eyes to look at her.

She was smiling.

A gleeful grin had spread across her features like wildfire, with the telltale twinkle in her eyes telling Shikamaru that the expression had more to do with baffled amusement at him than straightforward happiness.

"You absolute, utter, moron." She repeated, pushing him back against the foot of the sofa.

* * *

><p>Hi all! It's been quite a while.<br>Once again, real life did a magnificent job of getting in the way of what actually matters - writing to get approval from people I'll never meet! :P

Another part in the huge gap between chapters was the stupid length that it was getting. In the end, I split it at what seemed like a logical point, which means that I'm currently working on chapter 11 which already stands at 9000 words.

A note on Kakashi: He's not a complete asshole in this chapter, but he is definately not too friendly. I put him in the story as the ex-boyfriend purely because I realised that I hadn't included one of my favourite characters, and Ino's ex was the only person left unintroduced. Sorry if this offends any Kakashi lovers. I'm one of you, really! I swear!

By the end of this chapter, having no doubt read plenty of other fanfiction, you'll probably have an inkling of what chapter 11 is likely going to focus on. If you don't like reading that sort of thing, I'd skip the next one... There, you've been warned!

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my mauling of the English language.  
>Take care, and please forgive the wait!<p> 


	11. Finally

I do not own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first long piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It will centre around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the events that happen to him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before...

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 11 – Finally**

As he was forced back into a reclined posture, she leant forwards to keep distance with him, capturing his mouth in a fierce and breathless kiss when he could lean no further.

Although after his own display, he had no right to be shocked at a forward gesture, he was, and his mouth opened in surprise as it met hers. She wasted no time in capitalising on his bewilderment by pushing her tongue into his mouth. At the intrusion, Shikamaru finally caught up with the rapidly developing events, and responded in kind, exploring her mouth almost aggressively, without letting the kiss become overbearing or suffocating.

Her hands came up to cradle either side of his neck, as she pressed her mouth yet more passionately against his. Unable to keep the feverish intensity of her actions from her voice, a low moan escaped from her mouth, reverberating pleasantly against her partner's.

They broke for no more than three seconds, each taking a handful of shuddering breaths before launching back into the most incredible kiss either of them had ever had. It may have been Shikamaru's intense longing for her, or her ardent responsiveness to his every action within the kiss, but the entire experience was one that sent the most indescribable feelings racing through his head.

After an indeterminable period of time, the kiss inevitably ended, with both Ino and Shikamaru breathing heavily through flushed cheeks. Ino still lay draped across his torso, with her hands having moved to the back of his neck to hold her level with him.

Her eyes closed happily as she gave a radiant grin, and true to form, Shikamaru ruined the near-perfect moment with a typically eloquent and suave response.

"Thanks."

Unsurprisingly, she burst out laughing. As she calmed down, she admonished him through the dwindling chuckles.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"Was there a need to ask?"

Shikamaru suspected that his gaze was less than clear, his brown depths hazy from the intensity of the kiss, so he was surprised to find himself met with Ino's perfectly lucid pools of blue. Unable to hold firm in his locked stare with her penetrating vision, he let his head fall back onto the plushy surface of the sofa.

As he exhaled, finally returning to a normal rhythm, he could feel Ino's grip on his neck heighten momentarily as she slid herself up his body so that their heads remained level. He felt chilled breath on his neck only once, impossibly close, before she nipped at his jaw-line playfully with her canines. Shikamaru opened his eyes at the unfamiliar sensation, to find her hovering an inch above his face, with a devious smile tugging at her features. She leaned in at a torturous pace, bringing their mouths together in another lazy meeting.

Shikamaru couldn't get enough of her. He was not inexperienced with women, although it hurt to admit that in the most recent year and a half, this fact sadly didn't ring true. Nevertheless, he had been through a modest clutch of serious relationships, but had never felt as overwhelmed by something as simple as a kiss. It was a divine experience, to kiss, and to be kissed by Ino. He loved the gentle swirl of her tongue against his, the impassioned squeeze of her hands at the base of his neck, and most of all, the muted sighs of contentment which had escaped her each time their lips initially met.

His actions had effectively put an end to what could, and should, have remained a simple friendship, but in the embrace of this woman, Shikamaru could not bring himself to care. So long as she would let him, he was going to kiss her breathless.

Resolved to see his mistake through, he managed to lift himself up onto the sofa without letting Ino fall away from him. The kiss was broken by the movement, but as he lifted her with him, their eyes seemed to be locked half a foot from one another, by some impossibly strong magnetic attraction.

He turned her gracefully as they rose, letting her come to rest lying on her back, with him looking down at her with longing. Her loose hair had spread around her reclined head like some sort of halo, and her right hand softly alighted his cheek, with the slender fingers gently knotting in the hair at his temple.

A week after they had first met, Shikamaru finally plucked up the courage to give voice to his feelings.

"You are without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen…"

"Heh." She laughed, expressing herself through the single, clear, happy note. "Thanks, Shikamaru."

He smiled in return, unaware of how often Ino had longed for him to make the same gesture in the brief time she had known him. An open smile from Shikamaru was rare, so in a strange way, it gave her an odd feeling of pride; as though she had truly earned it.

"But Shikamaru…?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut up."

"Shut up." Repeated Shikamaru, tasting the perversely affectionate words. Her cool hand left his cheek unhurriedly, and hooked around his neck, pulling him down to taste her instead.

She gave another satisfied hum, in the way that Shikamaru had already come to adore, and this time he felt the subtle tremors flutter across his torso as well, where the firm plane of his chest rested on his partner's slender form.

Moments passed, and only the rustle of their clothes moving gave any indication of their presence in the dim light of the apartment. Shikamaru broke the stillness soon after, pulling himself unwillingly away from Ino's mouth. As he stared at her upturned face, his gaze dragged past her closed eyes to hover on her lips; slightly swollen from their feverish kiss.

He leant in again, unable to keep away, but found the beginnings of fresh uncertainty uncoiling in the back of his mind, after such a short period of time in a blissful state free from trepidation. _What now…?_ He wondered, finding it hard enough to think in the dreamy haze of his embrace with Ino, without the added buzzing of worry drifting ominously into view. As much as he was enjoying the sensual experience, he felt it had to end, or lead to something, and didn't feel even vaguely ready to make the decision.

He needn't have worried. No sooner had the tendrils of panic begun to sink into him, had Ino removed a cradling hand from his neck to bunch in the fabric of his shirt; tugging it slowly free of his restrictive belt. Shikamaru stiffened momentarily, as a cool hand stroked across his stomach, fingernails grazing him pleasantly as it did so.

Shikamaru's eyes were closed, but he felt Ino pull away at languid speed, tugging at his lower lip as she retreated.

"You looked far too formal…" She explained, with an edge of suggestiveness entering her hushed tone.

He felt the hint of a smirk on her features as she tilted her chin up to capture him in a kiss once more.

_Troublesome…_

Shikamaru was finally starting to gain an insight into where his rash actions were leading the pair of them, but the security that this limited foresight should have brought him didn't arrive. He was crushingly aware that he was currently breaking every promise he had made to himself at the start of the evening, and even more conscious of the fact that for the most part, he didn't care. As Ino's roving hand moved softly up his bare torso, undulating over tense musculature under the suddenly stifling confines of his shirt, Shikamaru realised with tolling finality that he had lost the will to resist her advance.

In a moment of unplanned synchronicity, Ino reached down to undo the lowest button on Shikamaru's grey shirt just as his free hand deftly unfastened the uppermost. She sniggered gently at the way that their thoughts had followed similar paths, continuing to unbutton the obstructing item of clothing whilst feathering a line of razor kisses along her partner's now exposed collarbone.

The shirt came free of his shoulders before he'd had a chance to reach his third button, and he found himself unexpectedly staring at the ceiling as Ino took command of the situation. As much as he was normally amused by the assertive side to Ino, in this context, her dominance stirred completely difference feelings within him.

Her head hove into view, blocking out the sight of the dim light diffuser that had previously held his attention. Smiling radiantly, she tossed her hair, letting the sleek tresses fall in a golden cascade to her left, and revealing a purple stud in the lobe of her right ear.

Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at her obsession with the floral shade, taken aback as he was by how beautiful she looked as she stared down at him. The almost inaudible flutter of her hair tumbling down the side of her face released another burst of the flowery, woodland scent that Shikamaru associated with her, and he inhaled deeply through the nose, to savour it as much as possible, since he was painfully aware that after today he would likely never be in such close proximity to it again.

"More purple?" He questioned idly, bringing up a hand to caress her forearm, where she had placed a chilled palm on his chest; as if to hold him down - helpless. He didn't truly desire an answer; he just enjoyed the sound of her voice.

"It's always been my colour." She chuckled, a self-aware little laugh which gently mocked her own predictability.

"_Your_ colour?" He exclaimed in mock outrage. "Such arrogance!"

He had no idea where such uncharacteristically smooth lines were coming from, but found inspiration for the playful banter striking him whenever he was entranced by her captivating gaze.

"I thought I already told you to shut up…"

Her face plummeted towards him after her jokey rebuttal, forcing him to stop talking by occupying his mouth with yet another luxurious meeting. As their tongues duelled for dominance over one another, Ino's overactive hand drew back to begin dealing with the next barrier – his belt buckle.

She wasted little time on the offending item of clothing, and was soon tugging at his loosened trousers in a failing attempt to pull them down. Although the speed at which events were progressing almost panicked him, he came to her rescue without thinking, writhing awkwardly to kick of his jeans, sending them tumbling over the edge of the couch. Grinning at the sudden enthusiasm, her head dipped once more, this time to favour his shoulder with feverish attention.

His head lolled back at the stimulating line of kisses that Ino traced from his shoulder to the hollow of his neck, but the beginnings of relaxation were gone a moment later. His teeth bared in a shocked gasp as she nipped his pulse-point, and it hurt him to admit how easy his pleasure was to read, when he caught Ino's cheeky grin as she glanced up to gauge his reaction.

It suddenly struck Shikamaru, as Ino's fleeting kisses resumed their lazy path towards his jawbone, that he was clad only in his boxers and socks, whereas she was fully clothed. Her trail of attention brought her the head-height with Shikamaru once more, and he diverted her stare straight to his face with a raised eyebrow.

"If this was some sort of game, I think I'd be losing…" He assessed, letting his brown eyes flick down his body to emphasise his point.

"Of course." She replied chirpily, adding a sly wink for effect. "Worldwide Champion of Everything, remember?"

After the jokey response, Shikamaru half expected things to continue in their original one-sided fashion, but Ino once again proved her unpredictability as she arched her back over him, pulling her grey cardigan free with a careless wrench.

Shikamaru let his eyebrow remain cocked, indicating that he still found the situation unfair.

"Shouldn't this be your job?" She asked, undoing the trio of buttons at the top of her floral-patterned blue dress. Her smirk was hidden almost immediately, as she pulled the airy fabric over her head, removing the dress effortlessly. Hovering over him in nothing but matching black bra and panties, she nodded in satisfaction.

"Have I sufficiently evened the odds?"

"I still don't stand a chance…" He commented wryly, the words drawling from a mouth that had gone dry at the sight of the woman above him.

Supple, unmarred skin covered every inch of her curvaceous form. She was thin; but nowhere near to the point of being skinny; and athletic, with the faintest hint of abdominal definition lurking under a flawless stomach. He could feel her smooth, hairless skin touch his exposed thighs where she straddled his right leg, delightfully warm against him, and couldn't fail to notice her generous bust as it rose and fell less than a foot from his face. With his own soft skin feeling horribly rough by comparison, his hands came up to caress her back, one just above her hip, the other between her delicate shoulder blades.

She smiled happily down at him, and he smiled uncertainly back. She was perfection, and he didn't know what to do.

_Leave…_ Came the immediate, but unwilling response from within him. It was one thing to think it, and an entirely different thing to actually do it. He had lost himself in the moment twice too many times already over the course of the evening, and knew with sudden finality that with the way things were progressing, this was likely to be the last time he thought clearly all night.

Shikamaru met her quizzical stare with glassy eyes, as he tried to bring order to his wandering consciousness and decide on a course of action. He attempted to gain a more upright position, only going as far as pushing himself further up the sofa to use the armrest to support his head. The movement required the bracing of his right foot against the opposite armrest, but the inadvertent bending of his leg brought his knee into fleeting contact with Ino's most sensitive area.

Her back's previously idle muscles tensed in surprise and her eyes lost a fraction of their sparkling clarity for a moment as she released a soft coo of appreciation.

They were kissing again before Shikamaru had even the briefest chance to compute his mistake. This wasn't anything like the slower, relaxed kisses that had come directly before. This was impassioned, breathless and overwhelming. His hands were already fumbling, unsteady with haste, at the strap of Ino's bra when he finally caught up with the speeding events he'd set in motion by pure accident.

"The front." She breathed, speaking into his mouth to avoid breaking the kiss for any longer than necessary.

"Huh?"

She pulled away for the shortest time, to sigh with withering amusement at him, as she shed the offending undergarment effortlessly.

"It unhooks at the front. Idiot." There was no malice in her insult, just exasperation at being dragged away from what she clearly considered to be a more important task.

Shikamaru was afforded the merest glance at her full, round and truly perfect breasts, before they were pressed near-flat against his chest, and he was distracted once more by Ino's skilful tongue's caress.

_Well this is unfair…_Came a familiar thought from his affronted ego. He hadn't minded taking the passive role thus far, but lying prone on his back with Ino taking charge could only sate him for so long. Even a man as lazy as Shikamaru was prone to moments of animal hunger every once in a while.

_Here goes…_

She'd squeaked. She'd actually let out a small squeak of alarm as Shikamaru made his move. He had taken her by the waist, pivoting on the narrow couch and somehow managing to achieve his exact aims with the manoeuvre; placing Ino underneath him on her back, caged in by his arms as he held himself up; in the position she'd so recently occupied. The sound had been equal parts surprise and pleasure, as the motion unintentionally ground his knee against her centre a second time. Shikamaru couldn't help but find the outburst adorable, despite the sultry eyes that it had eventually ended in for his partner.

What could have easily ended up an embarrassing and painful knee to her coccyx, had actually come off as an extremely successful act of pleasure. If luck was on his side for once, mused Shikamaru, maybe even he had a chance of not fucking things up tonight.

As she lay there, still baffled by where Shikamaru's surge of energy had come from, he spoke to her. A single murmured sentence before he dove back towards her enticing mouth.

"You can't have everything your way…"

As he relished yet another contented sigh from her as their lips came together, his hand lifted to cup one of her flawless breasts. With splayed fingers, he moulded the fleshy globe to his palm, squeezing firmly, though stopping short of inflicting any pain. A throaty moan was his reward; the first sound she had made which spoke of true arousal. He repeated the action, this time letting his fingers stroke back over the supple skin, till he was able to capture a distended nipple between thumb and forefinger. He rolled the sensitive flesh with the soft pads of his digits, eliciting further alluring sounds of delight from Ino, this latest of which sounded like a wordless benediction for more of the same deft attention to her body.

Shikamaru's shoulders tilted as he moved to swap his supporting arm, wiry musculature shifting silently beneath the surface of his skin. The repositioning left his right hand free to favour her other breast with similar actions. As he let his thumb ghost over her other rapidly-stiffening nipple, he released her mouth from his own, preferring to hear her murmurs of appreciation unmuffled and clear. He used the freedom to take the opportunity to further explore her body, trailing a slow line of kisses down her neck, and away from her slightly swollen lips, parted in breathless moans.

"You were right." She whispered, voice shaky from pleasure. Shikamaru looked up at her with interest, sparing her collar-bone for a moment. She grinned ruefully down at him. "Things are more fun your way."

He grinned in reply, accompanying the 'I told you so' smile with a happy sort of eye-crease. Shikamaru pressed his lips against the exposed skin at the base of her neck twice more, lulling her back into the rhythm they had been in before she'd spoken. A glitter of amusement sparked in his imagination at that moment, and he returned her earlier favour by nipping at her pulse-point with his teeth, taking an odd sort of pleasure in the sharp, hissing intake of breath he received in return.

She had enjoyed that. Shikamaru lingered on her throat a moment longer, before moving further down her body at torturous pace, paying careful attention to the reactions his actions created. He learned more about her likes and dislikes with every second his hands and mouth roamed her pleasing figure. A highly analytical man, Shikamaru put his attention to detail to good use in the bedroom, and was quietly proud of his ability to please a woman.

He took note of every sudden intake of breath, every minor tense of muscle, every sigh of pleasure, knowing that he was constantly building a picture of how best to make the experience one to remember, for both parties.

Although he didn't have a long list of previous sexual partners, he could say with honest confidence that his performance in this arena had never been the cause for their eventual break-ups.

As his line of feathered kisses passed between the heaving mounds on her chest, he put some of his gathered knowledge to use, having realised some moments beforehand that the taut skin on the underside of her breasts was supremely sensitive, even compared to the rest of her remarkably perceptive body.

He let his path trail under her breast, following the arc of the edge of her ribcage for a while, before travelling upwards once more. As he reached his destination, he allowed a single canine to graze the tender skin he had discovered. At the barest touch, he felt a slender hand clutch at his back, as a heightened gasp escaped his partner's lips.

Knowing that his observations had paid off, Shikamaru smiled, raising his head a fraction to press a firmer kiss onto the same location. At the sound of another approving hum, he continued onwards, forming a looping spiral of attention around coral coloured areolas. He kissed, licked and gently nipped at her fragrant skin, as he built up the experience for Ino, refusing to abide by any pattern in his actions, so she never knew where, or what the next sensation would be.

He waited until she no longer bothered to stifle her moans, knowing that the heedless noises, now edged with a hint of frustration, meant that it was time to move on. Finally arriving at the neglected centre of her breast, he paused a moment so that she didn't anticipate his next move, then placed his lips around her nipple, drawing the firm bud into his mouth and letting his tongue swirl luxuriously around the tightened skin.

Her first genuine cry of arousal gave him heart, and cast any remaining doubt from his mind, and he pulled back, looking over her flushed face with a crooked smile.

"Am I still a moron?" He ventured, watching her heavy eyelids flutter open to reveal her normally sparkling eyes, which were starting to be tinged by the first signs of a lusty haze.

"Without a doubt." She replied, to his surprise. "But definitely one who knows what they're doing…"

She smiled back at him, accompanying the happy expression with sultry eyes. Shikamaru didn't need a further explanation to be told what that meant. He gave a mocking salute at her unspoken order, and then dipped his head back down to start a new row of kisses low on her sternum. She giggled softly at his gesture, not so affected by arousal now that he had temporarily ceased his most direct actions. The temporary clarity allowed her to raise her body, propping herself up on her forearms to watch Shikamaru forge a skilful path down her graceful body.

She was surprised to find Shikamaru so adept at pleasing her, though she was not at all sad of the fact. He seemed to genuinely care that she should enjoy the experience as much as he did, something which she was unable to say the same of for the majority of her previous partners. She had had her share of satisfying encounters with men in the past, but couldn't remember ever feeling as she did now when next to no contact had been made to her body lower than her navel.

Shikamaru's adeptness was a happy revelation, but not one which Ino dwelled on. She ceased concentrating on idle trains of thought, preferring to watch her partner's movements intently. She was rapidly loosing focus in that as well, her gaze blurring as she took in the situation through her more tactile senses.

Feeling a familiar heat uncoiling at the apex of her legs, she knew that she was already becoming wet with desire, yet further testament to how obviously she was enjoying Shikamaru's presence.

As she noted the first signs of true arousal within her, she shifted slightly on the comfy sofa, in an attempt to dispel the needy pulse that was throbbing in her lower body; if only for a moment. The motion brought her bent legs into faint contact with his sides, and she left her limbs there, helping to support Shikamaru's body as he went about his work. Looking down at her own form, she noted the almost imperceptible red marks that punctuated her otherwise unmarred, creamy skin. It was a map of sorts, showing what parts of her had been exposed to Shikamaru's deft ministrations.

Letting his tongue dip to swirl in her navel, Shikamaru brought a hand up to once more cup Ino's breast, applying gentle pressure to earn an immediate quickening in breath from his partner. That she didn't react with a sigh or moan at the touch, told him that it was time to move the game up a notch, to avoid letting the experience become stale for even a moment.

He moved again, lower than he had so far, letting his face hover over her remaining clothes for a moment. He noticed her anticipation suddenly focus at the pause; her need betrayed in the subtle tense of her legs and stomach.

He refused to put her out of her misery that easily, choosing instead to move past her black underwear to place a kiss high on the inside of her leg. His mouth's presence on the impossibly soft skin of her inner thigh, so close to where she wanted it to be, sent a shiver through her body, just as Shikamaru noticed the first notes of her musk emerging in the air. The heady scent of female arousal, mingling with Ino's already enticing aroma, weakened Shikamaru's will to resist her in order to build the experience slowly, and he resolved to give in to Ino momentarily.

The next kiss came directly on the centre of already damp panties. Even through the fabric, Ino couldn't help but release a soft mewl of pleasure at the barest fraction of her craving beginning to be sated.

Smiling as the sound of Ino's appreciation once again reached his ears, Shikamaru let his hands slide down her form, coming to rest on the firm cheeks of her ass, with fingers hooked into the waistline of her underwear.

"Are you sure you want to trust a moron with a job like this?" He wondered, unable to resist teasing her a little longer before giving in to her desires. Knife-sharp as always, Ino parried his attempt at humour with a smirk.

"I wouldn't be so bold if I was still wearing my fucking socks, Shika."

Shikamaru reddened immediately, having not expected such a well-conceived riposte from his partner. He conceded her point with as much grace as he could muster, pulling off his socks and flinging them away, accompanying the movement with a rueful grin. Ino smiled back, her own cheeks flushed for an entirely different reason.

Before she could form a meaningful glance which said; 'get on with it', Shikamaru attempted to regain the initiative by replacing his hands on her waist, and removing her underwear. Despite the apparent spontaneity, Ino had clearly anticipated his return to proceedings, as she lifted her legs to aid him almost as soon as his hands returned to her skin.

He tossed the unneeded garment over a shoulder without care, turning back to his first sight of the area he had just uncovered.

Shikamaru was captivated by the soft pink flesh, revealed by the slight spread of her legs. It was more beautiful to him than the petals of the flower it resembled and was all the more alluring for the fact that it was glistening with her need. The smell was stronger now that it wasn't contained by her restrictive underwear, and to his mind the heavenly warmth of the scent was one of the most powerful aphrodisiacs in the world.

Above the slick flesh of her mound was pale and characteristically smooth skin, broken only by a short and neat strip of blonde hair.

Marvelling at the intoxicating sight and smell he was presented with, yet further amazement was added to his appreciation as he noted the sheer quantity of her plentiful juices. They coated his fingers moments later, as he spread her lips yet wider, still enjoying the alluring sight of her most intimate place. He heard the catch in her throat straight away, as she responded to his touch, and he was already enjoying the pulse of hot flesh beneath his digits.

"Christ, Ino." He exclaimed with awe. "You're soaked."

This time, when he looked up into heavy-lidded eyes, alight with craving, he saw the 'get on with it' urgency that he had originally headed off moments ago. He dipped his head in response, experimentally letting his tongue slide over her outermost lips from bottom to top, pausing to assess her reaction.

It was immediate. A shuddering sigh edged by the hint of a moan, followed a shiver that had run the length of her body. Pleased with the opening foray, Shikamaru smirked, and bent to his task again. This was going to be fun.

He lingered for a time on the barest surfaces of her opening, refusing to go deeper, or to favour the pink nub above her slit with the attention she was wracked with need for. Shikamaru took note of every sound she made, finding pleasure equal to what she was experiencing at his touch in the mere sound of her voice. His eyes still locked with hers, he lapped at her abundant juices. She was a delicacy he refused to waste a drop of.

Alternating between using his tongue, and rubbing over the entire area with gentle fingers, Shikamaru found delight in the chorus of moans and coos he was extracting, even as he enjoyed the tense of her abdominals, the heave of her chest and the quiver of her thighs. He found greatest pleasure in the muffled sounds of arousal she created when she bit her lip in an only partially effective bid to stifle her breathless groans. Even the sight of her lips, puckered by this restrictive bite sent a visceral shudder through his frame, all the way to his already stiff member.

As he watched her with focused interest, she looked back, through pools of deepest blue grown hazy with desire. Ino found it intensely erotic to lock eyes with him as he sent his tongue skilfully along her opening, knowing that he took equal pleasure from staring at her impassioned reactions. Soon, though, she was unable to hold to his wilful gaze any longer, her supporting arms collapsing as she let herself lay back on the couch, writhing under his tender attentions.

Her whole body ached for him, desperate to receive something more than the offerings he produced at the moment, fulfilling though they might be. Her inner muscles fluttered with an ardent desire to be filled, and Shikamaru's chin was shiny with yet further proof of her still growing need. She understood why he maintained this torturous pace, and was even thankful for it, knowing that his skilful building of sensations would lead to greater satisfaction for the pair of them in the end, but for the time being, an edge of frustration coloured her muffled cries of pleasure; a fact which did not go unnoticed by her partner.

In the blur of her aflame senses, she couldn't honestly say how they had gone so quickly from talking, to this, but found it very difficult to worry about such things with Shikamaru's ministrations bringing her yet closer to bliss.

"Mm. Shika, more…" She moaned, not consciously forming the sentence, just trusting that the outpouring of intent would get the desired effect. "More…"

She slung a graceful leg over his shoulder, letting her heel dig into his back in a failing attempt to get him to treat her to something more substantial. He wouldn't be rushed, and resisted her pressure with ease, almost too focused on his task to even notice the intervention.

He didn't respond to her breathy invocation at once, letting her dwell on the sensations of utter and all-consuming need for a few moments more, knowing that she would thank him for the teasing pace in the long run. Just when she felt she could take no more, she was sent into fresh moans and more than a few whispered expletives at an intrusion which told her that Shikamaru was impaling her on his tongue, finally filling just a little of the need that burned at her core.

She swore at him for keeping her waiting, a smile tugging at her open mouth robbing the insults of any anger they might had held, before hissing as he removed his tongue from where he had lodged it within her.

"Ow." He spoke frankly, without the pain that the word should have suggested, and with the beginnings of amusement curling at the fringes of his tone.

Heart still pounding from the momentary surge of heightened feeling, Ino cracked open a reluctant eye, to find Shikamaru smirking accusingly up at her, with white knuckled fingers knotted in his hair. She released him immediately, surprised that she hadn't been aware of her own twisting fingers trying to pull her partner further into her moist opening. With the sudden lack of tension, his hair hung loose again, removed from its usual restrictive band, and the blood surging back into his scalp finally produced a wince out of him.

"Shit, sorry!" She stuttered, in a rare state of uncertainty, her embarrassed flush going unnoticed on a face already pink with exhilaration.

She needn't have worried, even for a moment.

After a moment of unfulfilled agony, Ino was once again sent into shivers of happiness at the feeling of Shikamaru's finger being pushed centimetre by centimetre into her drenched opening, reaching far further than his tongue could have ever hoped to.

He loved the feel of her around his questing finger, impossibly tight and pulsing with heat, as he moved in and out of her, refusing to adhere to any rhythm or pattern of depth, keeping her guessing at where and when the next burst of pleasure would arrive. As another breathless 'Fuck' split the atmosphere of the steamy apartment, Shikamaru knew that it was time to grace the little neglected bundle of nerves above her entrance with the attention it had been denied thus far.

As his finger continued to pump inside her, loosing its arrhythmic timing but making up for it in increased speed and force, the merest ghosting of a digit over the slick pink flesh set Ino trembling beneath him. He grinned at her typically sensitive response, before startling her by taking the entire swollen nub into his mouth and sucking at the fever-warm flesh gently. For his efforts, he was afforded a preview of what Ino's moment of release may look like, as she came close to falling apart in front of him. Denied such direct pleasure for so long, the single movement released a lusty cry from the intensely aroused woman, and set every muscle in her body fluttering.

Her hips were bucking now, and her legs tried in vain to pull Shikamaru closer, attempting to force him into pleasuring her further. Reckless, wanton sounds escaped lips that were past caring who heard, as her sweat-sheened body filled Shikamaru's hungry vision.

At the sight of her perfect, writhing, frustrated form, he couldn't bear to keep her waiting any longer. The look of need that played across her face was enough to melt the heedless front he had been employing as he painstakingly built her towards what he sincerely hoped would be a release to remember. It was a wild glare, appreciative and greedy all at once; an emotion lost somewhere between rage and bliss.

He stopped suddenly, catching Ino's blurred vision the instant she noticed the lack of movement. His finger was still inside her, though still, and he gave the digit an experimental flex, relishing the rapture he created in his partner's expression.

"Now?"

Her response was a sultry look that he would remember in vivid detail for years to come. Eyes of piercing blue stared at him in equal parts warning and adoration, telling him he would not regret carrying on, but he would not live long enough to regret stopping. Radiant hair framed the dangerous, but supremely attractive image, clinging to her faintly perspiring skin in places, giving her the cast of a wild and untameable goddess. He could hardly refuse that.

"Shikamaru. Fucking fuck me. Now!"

He wouldn't go that far. Not yet. But a second finger joined the first in the impossibly tight confines of her pussy almost immediately, and he pumped in and out with remorseless pace as her powerful, focused emotions crumbled before him. At long last, she was coming close to sating the urges that Shikamaru had awoken, and she vocalised her thanks in gasping moans and wails like a cat in heat.

Not letting up the relentless bombardment of her senses for a moment, Shikamaru's free hand rode the inside of her leg from knee to burning centre, feeling the quiver of muscles under the smooth glide of skin on skin. Capturing her swollen clit between thumb and forefinger, he applied gentle pressure that produced yet further enrapturing sounds from the woman he almost held hostage with his skilful manipulation of her most sensitive areas.

He released the little bundle of nerves for the shortest time, resuming by running fingers over the fleshy pearl over and over again, her already drenched skin becoming wetter with every second that passed.

The combination of his actions had brought her to such a fever pitch already, that his very first thrust with the introduction of a third finger was enough to send her over the edge instantly. She bucked and arched beneath him, the intensity of the feelings she experienced enough to create heavenly spasms over her entire body, right down to the adorable curl of her painted toes.

As her ecstatic high overtook all reason, she whispered an incessant stream of expletives, made near silent by the breath that had been driven out of her in her moment of release. Colours blurred, and her eyes shut even tighter to attempt to block out some of the oppressive stimulus that assaulted her broken consciousness, somehow only serving to increase the experience.

The sight of her undulating form beneath him nearly broke Shikamaru there and then, and he spent several seconds in an internal battle not to pull his boxers from around his painfully erect cock and pound into Ino without sacrificing a moment of intensity, until both of them were utterly spent. He nearly lost, but to his relief, iron will reasserted dominance over his wilful body soon after. He couldn't give in yet. His agile mind was already conjuring ideas for how best to continue, not content to settle on anything less than the best night the blonde beauty had ever had.

Any trace of the lazy young man who was usually displayed to the world was gone in this instant, replaced by an individual full of drive and vigour, complete with an unshakeable conviction and aim. When something truly mattered, this was the persona that Shikamaru could present.

He pulled away from the recovering woman on the sofa, his fingers sliding free, sticky and glistening with the proof of her orgasm. Internal muscles resisted his retreat, attempting to lodge him within in rhythmic flutters of pressure, a pale aftermath of the stronger compression he had endured only seconds earlier. The removal of his hands from her body drew a weak whimper from her, as over-stimulated tissue attempted to restore order.

Smirking for the umpteenth time at the success of his actions so far, Shikamaru set her eyes alight with shock once more, as he bent towards her slick opening and blew gently upon it. The cool breeze he set over her soaked pussy impelled her into fresh shudders, and even a small squeak of pleasure, as protesting muscles flexed in surprise. It was the most indescribably good ache Ino could ever remember.

Forcing weighty eyelids open, she gazed up at the man who had caused these crashing waves of bliss in her, and smiled a smile which struck him to the core. An exerted flush had coloured her cheeks, which now dimpled as her smile of immense gratitude turned into a wicked smirk.

"You know what, Shikamaru?" She asked, not waiting for a response before continuing. "You're the devil…"

She was as shocked as he was by the tremor in her voice, which was still weak from being uncontrollably pressed into use as a means to release pulses of pleasure that had threatened to overwhelm her. Her devious grin melted back into a smaller smile as Shikamaru replied.

"He has the best tunes." He muttered, still watching the rise and fall of her chest returning to a normal speed, drinking in the divine image of heaving breasts, glowing cheeks and trembling thighs with overbearing longing. "Looks like he has the most fun as well…"

She hummed in agreement at his cliché-ridden line, in too much of a daze to quibble over such a minor detail as his corny sense of humour at a time like this. As the pleasant noise left her reclining body with unhurried speed, she realised with eager anticipation that Shikamaru had achieved all he had achieved so far without taking off his underwear. Things could still go wrong, but all signs pointed to even more incredible experiences looming in her not-too-distant future.

Ino drifted in her own softly buzzing mind, noting that she hadn't made a rational and thought-out decision since Shikamaru had first initiated their coupling with an unplanned and impulsive kiss. This lack of deliberation worried her, but failed to turn into outright anxiety in the warm afterglow. There would be time enough to ponder on her actions later.

She was spared further introspection by a sudden rush of air around her. She giggled weakly as she realised what had happened, bobbing through the air in the tender grip of Shikamaru, who had lifted her bodily from the couch. He bore her weight without apparent effort, the circumstances making him bold, and carried her without complaint towards the bedroom.

"You'd better not disappoint me now." She warned, a flicker of the dominant Ino gradually emerging in the wake of the numb-minded and thoroughly pleasured consciousness of before.

Her eyes opened a crack to rest on the cheeky, yet slightly nervous smile of Shikamaru, adoration and a hint of lingering doubt etched in his deep, dark eyes.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru breathed deeply, then exhaled at torturous pace, relaxing his body from the tensed up stretch he had just put it through. Lying on his back, with one arm behind his head, Shikamaru felt all the energy leak out of his body. Despite feeling satisfied and utterly drained, he still found sleep eluding him.<p>

He tilted his head the merest fraction to the right, gazing at Ino's slumbering form, and felt a smile tug unbidden at the corner of his mouth. Her breathing had long since slowed to a near imperceptible rhythm, having started to fall asleep mere seconds after rolling from her lover's body, completely spent.

He watched the minute motion of her body rising and falling for a moment, before returning his gaze to the ceiling. He had been staring at the same surface for just under an hour, baffled at the turn of events which had culminated with the most blissful evening of his life. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't help replaying the night's events over and over in his head.

After all the times he had marvelled at Ino, it struck him that she had never looked more beautiful than she had seconds before their passion had come to a crescendo. Looking down at him, cheeks flushed, hair cascading down her body and mouth open in wordless noises of pleasure - he couldn't have imagined a more perfect moment.

As the silence that followed their releases blanketed the dimly lit apartment, her eyes had reopened slowly, and she had looked down at Shikamaru with such naked vulnerability that his breath had caught in his throat. He knew that she felt what he did; that there was nothing hidden between them anymore.

She had leaned in, and kissed him one final time, head dizzy from the intensity of their shared experience. The kiss had been slow, and while a little sloppy, neither of them could have cared in the slightest. Their lips had parted and the silence was split once more with a single syllable of happiness. It wasn't a word that Ino had formed, it sounded more like the first happy note of a contented laugh, and it meant the world to Shikamaru.

In the wake of the impossibly adorable coo, Shikamaru had smiled, open and honest, before their stare was broken and Ino had rolled away, too tired to bother descending with any grace.

As he thought back on these final moments yet again, Shikamaru finally began to lose his grip on the waking world, falling into a delicate balance, torn halfway between full sleep and consciousness.

An hour later, Shikamaru fell into the deepest, dreamless sleep he ever would, with the merest shadow of a smile still resting on his solemn features.

* * *

><p>So. That chapter title turned out to be more apt than I was expecting.<br>Once again, my author's note will have to begin with a massive apology! Once again, the demands of Uni got in the way of my free time... I also spent some time in the throes of a minor Breaking Bad addiction...

Stupidly long wait aside, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. I'm really happy with how it turned out, despite a couple of blocks I had whilst writing. Hope you stick around for future chapters, as and when they appear. Thanks to Doomguard for the help proof-reading!

Cheers!


	12. Distance

I don't own Naruto in any way. All rights belong to the makers of Naruto.

This is my first multi-chapter story on the site and my first piece of writing in well over a year, so any and all C&C is greatly appreciated.

It will centre around Shikamaru Nara, an unmotivated worker at the head office of a huge company based in London, and the events that happen to him, his friends, and his rivals. I've cast several Naruto characters well out of type, which I hope will make it a refreshing and fun story. Then again, I've been wrong before…

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><span><strong>Drama Incorporated.<strong>

**Chapter 12 – Distance**

Ino's thoughts drifted in her own softly buzzing mind, noting that she hadn't made a rational and thought-out decision since Shikamaru had first initiated their coupling with an unplanned and impulsive kiss. This lack of deliberation worried her, but failed to turn into outright anxiety in the warm afterglow. There would be time enough to ponder on her actions later.

She was spared further introspection by a sudden rush of air around her. She giggled weakly as she realised what had happened, bobbing through the air in the tender grip of Shikamaru, who had lifted her bodily from the couch. He bore her weight without apparent effort, the circumstances making him bold, and carried her without complaint towards the bedroom.

"You'd better not disappoint me now," warned Ino, a flicker of her dominant side gradually emerging in the wake of the numb and thoroughly pleasured consciousness of before.

She opened her sky-blue eyes a crack to rest on the cheeky, yet slightly nervous smile of Shikamaru, adoration and a hint of lingering doubt etched in his deep, dark eyes.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

It was thoroughly unlike the wilful and confident woman to let herself be carried to the bedroom like some blushing bride, but in the hazy wake of her climax, and in the tender but sure grip of her newfound lover, she let her independence slide to the background. The greater part of her mind was focused on the present - the ecstasy of the past few minutes and the excitement yet to come - but a small glimmer of emotion was nestling and taking root deep within her unconscious mind. It was a small thing, which she wouldn't focus on until her head was clear again, but it was a worrisome little feeling, a thought lost somewhere between apprehension and attraction, a feeling of surprise at just how deep Shikamaru's feelings seemed to go.

She had been aware of his attraction for some time, and she had felt the same desire in return, but after the events of the evening, she was becoming slowly aware that the brown-haired man was truly, deeply in love, and she wasn't ready to admit how closely her feeling mirrored his own, having been wounded by Kakashi so recently. The doubt had been buried deep, though, and whilst in his arms all she felt was the heat of his body, the sureness of his step and the smile in his eyes.

Ino tumbled to the soft surface of the bed in a graceless tangle of weakened limbs, looking up at the man who had dropped her with an accusatory grin.

"What was that for?" She asked demurely, trying to conjure up a mock argument to pass a little time. She wasn't sure she would be able to handle any more of Shikamaru's newly-revealed skill in the bedroom for the next few minutes at least. He favoured her with a crooked grin as he responded.

"I think I'm supposed to smirk, then say something along the lines of 'for being a naughty girl'." He shrugged with what would appear to be rapidly returning apathy, though in truth it was feigned, as he surrendered to Ino's little charade. It appeared that he agreed that they had both earned a brief reprieve. "Trouble is, I really can't be arsed…"

Ino cackled at his casual disregard for the situation, utterly unabashed in her nakedness before the brown-haired man. Her unceremonious landing had mussed her hair attractively, and she stared at her newfound lover from under this golden and slightly messy fringe, cocking an eyebrow provocatively as she noticed her position. She lay back, too exhausted to bother supporting her torso to face Shikamaru more horizontally, leaving her legs casually spread to reveal herself to him. This nonchalant posture was intended both to put him off in the verbal to-and-fro, and to silently indicate that she was becoming more ready for 'round 2' by the second.

"There's the bone-idle lazy Shikamaru I remember!" She exclaimed, arching her back slightly to ease the slight tension which was settling in her fluttering muscles and watching with wicked glee as his eyes dilated at the suggestive sight of her. Her bemused state of mind wasn't diminished, even as she was forced to concede that this was a few shades beyond mere 'suggestive'. "What happened to the stud who was here a minute ago? I kind of liked him…"

A twinkle returned to Shikamaru's previously jaded eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure he's around."

She adored the dryness of his humour, the sarcastic tone which hid so much sincerity. As much as she would have loved to continue this easy banter between them, she also had no objections in accepting Shikamaru's slow and gentle kiss, as he leaned forwards to hold himself above her, joining their mouths in an almost passive meeting.

She tilted her head, allowing further access to her partner's meandering tongue, musing on the evening's events so far. As content and surprised as she was what had transpired up till this point, she couldn't help the uneasy feeling of bewilderment which was gradually gathering on the fringes of her mind. She couldn't quite put her finger on from where the confusion had arisen, but it was an emotion which spoke of worry over the intensity and longing she was finding so consistently in Shikamaru's actions. She couldn't deny that she hadn't been imagining similar scenes as this one for some time now, but she was struck by how very real they seemed now that they were truly being realised.

Further thought on the matter was cut short, as the kiss built into something altogether more fiery, and with Shikamaru's tender touch already starting to ghost across her sensitised skin, doubt was cast easily aside as an old burn reignited between her legs, where it had slumbered expectantly for a time. Her hands left the base of his neck without haste, dragging down his hovering torso towards the remaining piece of clothing between the pair, extracting a pleasant groan in their raking movement. He got the message the moment that her hand reached his straining length, squeezing it experimentally through the fabric. She couldn't be clearer. Something was in her way.

She felt his grin at her impatience against her lips, before that contact broke away. She gathered the strength to sit up, keeping distance with him as leaned back, somehow perceiving his proximity without needing to open her eyes.

"Sorry, I almost forgot." He admitted, with a hint of embarrassment creeping into his calm and often sombre voice. She failed to see how he could still be bashful with her, especially considering how adept his handling of her form had been. Eyes still shut, she shook her head at this slightly timid side to him, as her ears paid witness to the sound of soft material sliding over skin.

"S'alright." She murmured in reply, mouth dry with ill-concealed excitement. She accompanied her following quip with a smile, lips quirking up in the barest suggestion of a smirk. "You were busy."

"Very." He agreed, a little confidence returning to his tone.

Three things happened at once. Shikamaru gasped with surprise, as Ino grasped him once again, opening her eyes as she did so. She sat at the foot of her bed, so close to the now fully naked Shikamaru that their legs interlocked, her slender right limb having drifted between his own.

She gave his not unimpressive cock a tentative squeeze, sliding her slender hand up and down, only once. At his hum of approval, she repeated the gesture, slowly picking up speed into a pumping rhythm as her hand slid up the inside of his thigh, adding to the sensation. While she worked she placed a kiss, and another, on the taut muscles of his stomach, feeling them tense in rhythm with the movements of her hand. Her imagination was running wild at the sight of him. He had quite a weapon hidden away, and recent evidence suggested he would know exactly what to do with it. She could hardly wait.

"Not bad." She commented, with an Oscar-worthy expression of icy calm. Judging on her past ability at getting to him, and after his torturous treatment of her, she couldn't resist an attempt at needling him.

He cracked open an eye, and spoke with a voice shaky with pleasure, still managing to convey his wry amusement at her clumsy mocking.

"Thanks. I've strived my whole life to be 'not bad'."

History would record that he lost this particular exchange of razor-sharp lines, as before his gloating smirk down at Ino even had time to fully form, she took him in her mouth, splitting his lips in a groan. His vocalisation was threaded with a chuckle, as he expressed his mirth at having been beaten in such an underhanded way.

She couldn't explain her actions. A few seconds beforehand she had been desperate for him to be inside her, sending her wild with pleasure, but at the sight of him before her, already rock hard and fully erect, she couldn't help but be overcome by thoroughly different urges. She had felt him pulsating against her palm, and watched a milky droplet oozing from the tip, and had wanted him to feel like she had felt back on the couch; sated, and with eyes only for the person who had drawn such satisfaction out of them. Most of all, she wanted to taste him as he had tasted her. Some presents warranted a gift in return.

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to fill the otherwise still air with low groans of appreciation, as his hands tangled in silky locks. He couldn't recall why, but he had been intending to pull her away, finding himself merely caressing her instead, as she went about her work.

Slowing for a moment, she met his gaze with smouldering eyes. The laden glance broke almost before it began, as she picked up speed, sucking rhythmically and drawing a surprised bucking of hips from Shikamaru. The unintentional thrust came close to pushing nearly his whole length down her throat, which she greedily accepted.

The normally composed man struggled to keep quiet, not wanting to let on just how skilfully she was working him. He finally seized upon a brief flicker of clarity in the haze of his mind, remembering the reason for his hesitancy at the start of her actions. This wasn't the plan. She should be lying on the bed right now, as their bodies linked in the most intimate way possible. He was already dangerously close to breaking, fired up from substantial amount of time watching the insanely sexy reactions of this blonde temptress under his careful touch.

"Ino." The name should have been a gentle warning, though emerged sounding choked and needy, a product of her highly adept ministrations.

Once he found that he couldn't rely on his voice to instil any authority, he tentatively tugged on her shimmering hair, administering a slight pull to get his message across. She had, as always, an immediate and eloquent reply.

Ino let her teeth ghost over his rigid flesh, applying the barest hint of pressure; a warning of her own. For the first time that night, she was in control, and she was making the most of it.

Shikamaru was powerless to stop another moan escaping his mouth as her tongue swirled over him from base to tip, her lips undulating over his impossibly hard cock. She even slid a languid hand up the inside of his leg, cupping the soft sack she found there, and adding another dimension of electric sensations to his eager body.

What she was doing felt good. Too good, in fact. If she kept this relentless stimulation up, Shikamaru wasn't sure he could withstand her for much longer, and he wouldn't accept the night ending like this. He had to regain the initiative in what had developed into a full-blown and immensely fun battle for dominance between the pair. Still wracked by pleasure, Shikamaru's next aroused growl was coloured by the devious grin it emerged from, as his agile mind formed the plan that would set him loose on her again.

She squeaked in surprise as he made his move, pulling away sharply with an unintentionally hard suck which nearly brought Shikamaru's fledgling plan to an untimely end. Reduced to employing a schoolyard trick, he had leant down over her bobbing head to poke her on either side of the ribs, shocking her into stopping her immensely pleasurable actions.

Capitalising on his gain, Shikamaru pushed Ino back onto the bed, supporting her with an arm as she lay down, unresisting. Not even allowing her time to speak, he picked up right where he had left off, latching onto a breast with his mouth and teasing the rosy nipple with a practised tongue. As his actions earned him an immediate vocalisation of gratitude, his free hand slid down a taut stomach to begin rubbing at her still-swollen clit in measured circles. Ino only caught up with the latest development when her moans of pleasure were filling the apartment yet again. Her partner didn't slow in his task when she finally managed to form a response.

"You cheated."

Shikamaru didn't need to look up to see the adorably exaggerated pout that no-doubt graced Ino's features. He spared her the briefest time possible for his answer, moving from one side of her chest to the other in the time it took him to speak.

"Something tells me that I'm going to get away with it, too." His voice came as a surprise to both parties, a low rasp that pleasantly rumbled through her torso with hungry intensity. It seemed he wanted this even more than he had thought.

Ino found herself once again propped up on her elbows, with Shikamaru above her, his mouth against hers in a languorous kiss and his hands always roaming, sending electricity tingling all around her body. She lay back, willing to let him have his way for now, one hand at his cheek, cradling his head, and the other raking over the flat planes of his chest, making her own marks on him to match the small areas of pinkness on her own body where he had sucked, or nipped with his teeth.

The exquisite moment stretched on for what seemed like an eternity, their bodies so close, their kiss so deep, heat radiating from their bodies. All of a sudden it was gone, leaving only the ache that demanded to be filled, as Shikamaru's lips left Ino's. Her eyes stayed closed, heavy with pleasure, and she felt his strangely cool breath playing upon her chest, making rosebud nipples tighten ever so slightly. Then she felt him again, the slightest pressure of him down at the apex of her legs sending burning sensation all through her body, curling her toes with the suddenness of the touch. She smirked as she realised what came next in Shikamaru's master plan.

"Forgetting something, Shika," she giggled, surprising herself at how innocently the sound emerged from her lips. He looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers with confusion, and she would have given almost anything in the world to have been able to take a photograph of his face as the small square packet she had tossed at him landed right between his eyes with a soft _tap_.

Shikamaru grinned self-consciously as the condom fell to the bed in front of him. "Where would I be without the Worldwide Champion of Everything to tell me what to do..." he muttered as he donned the item, chuckling breathlessly.

Ino gave a sultry smile in return, slinging her graceful legs around his waist from where she lay on the bed, pulling him down on top of her. Shikamaru gave in to the movement with almost psychic understanding, bending with perfect balance to hold himself above the blonde with one arm, allowing the other hand to glide down smooth skin, from toned calf all the way to the smooth curve of her ass, squeezing the supple flesh gently as he moved her hips towards his own.

"In a mental institute I imagine," she mused with a breathless voice. "Gone insane with the sadness of never meeting anyone as awesome as me."

"I wish I could prove you wrong somehow," he smirked in return, placing a lone kiss on her forehead.

"If anyone could it'd be you, Shika," she replied earnestly, before taking on a tone which ached with need – a voice rich with desire – which would brook no argument. "Now get on with-"

Her command was lost in a shuddering gasp as Shikamaru anticipated her intention and moved inside her, inch by inch, until she was filled, and there was no closer way for their two bodies to be joined. She released the tiniest moan of noise, before a true cry of passion split her lips as he pulled away and then repeated the motion. This time it was he who was breathless, as a low growl was all the sound he could make when he first felt the flutter of her feminine muscles tighten around him, resisting his retreat in pulsing waves of pressure and heat.

Ino's liquid core went molten at the rhythm of his movement, each thrust of her partner blurring her vision and catching her breath. Her fingers clawed at his strong back, and her legs held him so tightly as she clung on for dear life to her only anchor in a sea of overwhelming sensation. Her hips bucked in rhythm with Shikamaru's, sending him further into her entrance again, as she felt his hand at her breast, gently squeezing. How he could still think of her pleasure when his mind was so overtaken with pleasure was beyond her, but she couldn't be anything other than grateful as another layer of feeling was added to the chorus which was already building towards her second release.

"Fuck," she swore, uncaring about the volume she must have spoken at. "Fuck…. Shika is that really you?"

Shikamaru's movements never let up for a moment in speed or intensity as he grinned at his lover through a moan of his own. Ino felt as though she was seeing him for the first time, in amongst the insane experience her body was going through, as her sultry blue eyes met his honest, adoring brown ones.

"It's me, Ino," he gasped, his breath shaking as he spoke, still grinning at the absurdity of her question, and still riding the waves of pleasure as he moved in and out of her with almost insane patience.

She kissed him, long and deep as their bodies also joined down below, finally understanding his feelings for her in that moment, finally grasping the depth of the apparently lazy man's emotion. Their lips parted, and she spoke a single sentence more before toppling over the edge into bliss again.

"Pleased to meet you."

Shikamaru held her body above the bed as she came, with his strong arms at her back, whilst moving inside her, once, twice, and then a final time with greater intensity than before as she called his name, and clenched vice-tight around his member, all steamy heat and fluttering muscle.

He lay her down on the bed gently, the exact opposite to the jokey plummet he had subjected her to earlier. She shivered slightly as she looked up at him, both from the cool sheets of the bed and the after effects of her pleasure.

Yet again, Shikamaru took advantage over her overly sensitive lull, and pressed his member against her entrance, moving it from top to bottom, and eliciting fresh groans of gratitude from his ever-receptive partner. As his actions roused her, he grew bolder, pushing his way inside her once again, gasping as he found her, if anything, tighter and more welcoming than ever before. It seemed that rather than satisfying her, he had merely whet her appetite for more. Starting sedately, he kissed her, enjoying another meeting of the mouths as he thrusted slowly in and out.

"I wish I never had to stop kissing you," he murmured, with true reluctance clear in his face as he moved away from her kiss-swollen lips. Ino's trademark fringe covered one eye, and she huffed out a breath to displace the golden strands, fixing Shikamaru with the depthless blue of her eyes. She was so receptive, flexing and arching with every leisurely thrust of her partner, her mouth opened just barely to release a soft coo with each movement, as she drank in the sight of her lover.

For a second she felt like she was the centre of the universe to him, but soon the ridiculously melodramatic thought was quashed by the increasing sensations down below. She hummed her agreement at Shikamaru's sentiment, leaning forward to hold her body against his, her head tucked under his chin as they adjusted their rhythm to fit the new position with uncanny familiarity – as though they had been together for years and could almost read one another's thoughts.

"Still not done, huh?" she smiled, enjoying the rushing sound of his powerful heart beating in time with her own as she pressed her head to the hard planes of his chest.

"Not quite, no," he admitted with a grin, as he moved forwards to lay Ino back out on the bed. His fingers wove between the strands of trapped sunlight that were her hairs, tilting her head to the side so tenderly to place a series of kisses on her neck and shoulder, even as he sped up his movements down below, gasping with appreciation as she clenched around his cock in unconscious response.

He was surprised to find her resisting his change of position for the first time that night, until he heard the amusement in her explanation moments later.

"No you don't, Shikamaru," she chuckled. "We've danced to your tune all night." She looked up at him with a smouldering look on her face, before hooking a leg around his and pulling him onto the bed next to her, twisting her lithe body above his to mount him. "This time I'm going to have some fun," she purred, leaning forwards to catch his ear-lobe in her teeth and giving it a playful squeeze. As Shikamaru marvelled at how quickly she had turned the situation to her advantage, she arched her back with feline poise, pressing firm breasts against his body whilst her hand lined his member up with her slick hole.

She sat back onto his length, feeling herself stretch to accommodate him, and releasing an alluring growl of satisfaction as Shikamaru moaned as she engulfed him once more.

"Okay, fine. Your way is good too," Gasped Shikamaru with a wolfish grin. "Jeez, you're so troublesome."

Ino's mouth was open as she writhed on top of him, framing a voiceless moan of contentment, but even in her bliss she could spare just enough time to outwit Shikamaru. Placing her hands on the centre of his chest she bore down on his member, rotating her hips, gyrating and making him fall to pieces.

"Ohhh, fuck," he swore, feeling his whole body go tense at the delicious feel of her movements. When he opened his eyes, she was smirking at him, still moving her hips in slow circles whilst impaled upon him, twirling with maddening pace to draw out his pleasure for as long as possible.

She kissed him, fleetingly, then pulled away to chirp, "You're not the only one who's good at this stuff, Shikamaru," before dipping her head to taste his mouth once more.

When they parted, Shikamaru was aching, desperate for more intensity yet simultaneously already aroused beyond all belief at the temptress above him.

"Noted," he conceded, raking his fingers down her impossibly smooth legs, "I'll shut up."

"Hmmm," she sniffed, with an impossibly adorable stern expression on her elegant features, looking down her nose at him like she was some kind of haughty aristocrat. Not a second had passed since the insanely sexy playacting, before she ceased her torturously slow ministrations, and began to pump down upon him, slowly increasing the tempo of their union. She felt true arousal build again in her loins, and the choked, needy sounds she was extracting from Shikamaru told her that his experience matched her own.

She supported herself on his chest, her breasts pushed forwards provocatively by her arms, all the while picking up the pace down below. One of Shikamaru's hands matched to the contour of her hips, whilst the other squeezed her ass ungently, sending shivers over her sweat-sheened skin. It was just the barest tinge of pain, mixed with all the pleasure she could ask for. The perfect balance. She remembered how Shikamaru's animalistic growls had sounded with her fingers dug into his back in their early coupling, and mirrored the activity with splayed fingers on his chest, giving him a taste of his own medicine. His aroused chuckle told her that she had judged his needs perfectly, and she moaned as he began to buck upwards in response to her touch, heightening the pleasure of each downward movement she made.

Their bodies writhed together, picking up in speed and power all the while, building to an inevitable conclusion. They could have rushed for the finish line, but each seemed to respond to an unspoken agreement to make the heavenly experience last.

Ino's moans and squeals grew louder and louder, as she pounded down on Shikamaru's length, her gaping hole accepting every inch of him greedily, slick with desire and liquid heat. Shikamaru's shuddering breath and deeper moans gave the bass background to the growing crescendo.

Before she lost herself again, Ino had time to deliver one final ultimatum to the brown-haired man beneath her, pleasure making a husky whisper of her voice, and in itself, sending Shikamaru finally into his own release.

"Your turn," she crowed, breathless as she rode him for everything he had. The marathon had finally become a sprint, and she was damned if she was going to let him finish the race alone. Shikamaru's cry split the cool night air as he called Ino's name, and she could feel him pulsate in release inside of her. She smiled with almost feral intensity at the pleasure-wracked face of the man beneath her, as he clutched her hips with desperate strength. Her eyes fell shut and she arched her back, adding a last burst of maddened speed to their coupling as she pushed herself back into the ecstasy of orgasm. Her hands left his chest with haste, one to circle rhythmically at the bundle of nerves above her entrance and the other to clench in her hair, holding the wave of blonde locks away from her face as she tumbled headfirst into the pleasure that her lover already enjoyed.

As she tensed and gasped she was unaware of anything in the world but the overloaded nerves of her own body's sparking pleasure and the strong yet shuddering body of Shikamaru below. Despite this, she could somehow feel his gaze upon her, gorging on the sight of her heavy breasts rising and falling, her glistening hole tensing and fluttering around him, her mouth opened in a wordless moan of arousal. His stare worshipped every inch of her as he rode out the last tides of his climax, until both of them were quiet, catching their breath and thoroughly spent.

It seemed like an eternity passed before she opened her eyes to stare back down at him. It was only seconds, in truth, but the experience had been mind-bendingly intense. She locked eyes with him, but saw him entirely; the splayed out strands of his hair, the sweat beading at his temples, the surge of his lungs trying to catch up with events, and the love…

It radiated off him in waves, and she was gut-punched by how she hadn't seen the true extent of it before. In her heart-of-hearts, she knew she already loved the man deeply as well, but with her anger at Kakashi, and her worry for her father's health, her brain shut these thoughts down to try to protect her. _It was just supposed to be sex, _she lied to herself, the deceit forming unbidden in her subconscious. She was exhausted both mentally and physically, and these new thoughts wouldn't coalesce into something concrete until the morning, so for now she shut down.

As the bone-deep weariness settled into her every limb she let out a small sigh, as she moved to kiss the man beneath her. The single note echoed in the room as she allowed her tongue to roam across his, a last, tender meeting, before she rolled away to fall asleep the moment she hit the pale blue sheets of her pillow.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru stirred slowly in the suddenly bright apartment. He felt well-rested for the first time in a while, but in a bizarre twist of his consciousness, he also felt as though only seconds had passed since he was staring at the ceiling of the darkened room the night before. He balled his fists, scrunching them into his eyes to try and alleviate the ache that the sudden glare of early morning sunshine had shocked him with.<p>

The room stilled smelled of sex.

Shikamaru smiled as recent memories flooded back to him in a rush of realisation. It wasn't the bloke-ish smirk of a man who had gotten laid. It was a naked, honest expression of contentment.

He filled his lungs with cool air again, attempting to drive away the sleepy buzz at the back of his mind for good. The notes of Ino and his passion still lingered in the air, but were no longer the dominant musk of last night. Now the heady scent mingled with the fresh air emanating from an open window.

His head lolled to the side to be immediately confronted by the red digital accusation of 7.00am from Ino's alarm clock.

_Fuck…_ He swore internally. _Don't let me be content for too long… _

He stretched every joint in his body suddenly, arching his back and curling his toes, with his arms flung high above his head. He was initially surprised at how tight his muscles felt, but thinking back to the not so distant past, his stiffness was all too clear. It had been an exhausting night. It was a miracle he'd woken up the correct side of midday without the aid of an alarm… Or an earthquake…

Life returned to his limbs, bringing with it that sumptuous ache that came with being completely satisfied. Shikamaru didn't have the luxury of enjoying a slow languid wake up. He had an hour to shower, get dressed into his old clothes and rush to work, most likely by foot. To top things off, during this stressful blur of a morning, he'd have to try and order his thoughts about the events of last night, and try to work out how he felt about them in the cold light of day.

He swung his feet out to the floor, knotting his toes in the thick pile of the carpet, then turned to wake up Ino, only to find the rest of the bed empty, with only the merest suggestion of a depression to give a clue as to where she might have lain.

'That's not good,' he commented wryly, a wary smirk sliding onto his tired features.

He took better stock of his surroundings after that. The curtains had been opened, and he probably had that fact alone to thank for his lucky wake-up. His clothes, which had led a fabric trail from the couch to the bed during the night, were now relatively neatly folded on a chair in the corner. Shikamaru's eyes flicked to the bottom of the bathroom door, to see if she was simply in the shower, hoping against hope that he was overreacting.

Empty room, no lights on.

'Shit.'

His agile mind went into overdrive as he hastily put on his clothes, barely noting the small mercy that they still smelled fresh enough to wear, as he tore through his recent memories to try and work out what he'd done to ruin things. He'd been entirely under the impression that he'd had a near perfect evening – the best he could remember in a long time – but something disastrous must have happened, he just hadn't worked out what yet…

Water splashed his face, driving the last of his sleep from his eyes, and rousing him fully at long last. He left the bathroom again, only to hear a voice that nearly left him pathetically weak at the knees with relief.

'Shikamaru?' came Ino's voice, reaching from the main room of the apartment. 'Please tell me you haven't broken any of my shit…'

He realised with sudden embarrassment how loud he must have been in his panic. He also noticed the curious lack of inflection in her tone. For a woman who wore her heart so proudly on her sleeve, it was beyond unnerving to hear so little emotion in her voice. Some corner of his mind tried to convince him it was just the inch of wooden door between them that robbed her question of soul, but however much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to belief it.

'Sorry,' he replied as he walked out into the kitchen-lounge area, blinking in the even brighter light of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Ino was by the door, tying off her coat whilst simultaneously stepping into a pair of modest high-heels.

She turned to him, strangely expressionless, and spoke, 'I set a half 7 alarm for you. I wasn't going to just leave you to miss work. I thought you could use the rest…' The barest hint of playful apology entered her voice, but seemed to be quashed the moment she noticed it.

'I'm in at 8 today,' he replied, more bluntly than he'd intended. If he had been thinking straight, he'd have grabbed even that modest olive branch with both hands and never let go, but instead he internally cursed himself as he realised how his rude his reply would seem.

'Shit, sorry,' she muttered, ironically displaying even less regret than before, if that were possible.

_Grab the bull by the horns, Shikamaru, _he steeled himself, _not like you can make things any worse._

'Wha-' he began, but he was cut off before he'd begun.

'I'd give you a lift, but I'm off in the other direction… Visiting my dad.' She was looking right at him, but not into his eyes. If he could only catch her gaze, she would see how much this bewildering display was hurting him, but that, he supposed, was the point.

'Right,' was all his shell-shocked consciousness could offer.

'I'll probably see you tomorrow at work,' she said, turning to leave. 'Lock yourself out, okay?'

_Probably? _He pondered her choice of words. _Just what in the name of fuck did I do…?_

What little courage he had finally arrived at the party as she crossed the threshold.

'Wait.'

He heard her shocked intake of breath at the distance he'd covered to stand before her. They were no more than a foot apart by the time she turned around at his announcement.

'See you,' he unintentionally whispered, made breathless by close proximity to the woman he was already coming to love.

He embraced her loosely; the way he'd greet a friend's wife at a party; and kissed her as their cheeks fleetingly touched. She returned the gesture after a moment's surprised hesitation, softening for the briefest instant before whirling out of the room.

'See you.'

He was left with nothing but her distinctive scent, and an army's worth of unanswered questions. Despite the happier resolution, that had been the most terrifying conversation of Shikamaru's life.

'Well…' he spoke, to an empty room. 'Shit.'

* * *

><p>A brief but eye-wateringly expensive taxi journey later, Shikamaru was jogging into the office, having limited the damage to fifteen minutes late, by dint of a blink-and-you'd-miss-it shower and an entirely skipped breakfast.<p>

He slowed to a casual and hopefully inconspicuous walk as he rounded the corner onto his floor, but immediately winced when he heard the one voice he didn't want to have anything to do with at his left shoulder.

'And you were doing so well, Nara,' murmured Director Tsunade. 'Back to square one on the 'currying favour front' I suppose.' As he turned to face his boss, she arched an eyebrow at him, her expression lost somewhere between manager-ly disappointment and playful mischief. Shikamaru was finding himself ever less sure of where he stood with the attractive, yet dangerously imposing woman.

'Director,' he began, his breath catching slightly as the mad dash from the cab to the office caught up with him. 'The buses really screwed me. I'm sorry, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.'

She stalked past him as he was speaking, still with a half smirk on her face. 'Make sure that it doesn't.' Turning her head back towards him as she sashayed away to her office, she sent blood rushing to her employee's face with a start as she ended the exchange. 'And remember that when the front desk receptionist sees you get out of a taxi, it isn't a good idea to claim bus-schedules as your excuse for being late…'

Groaning audibly, Shikamaru toyed with the idea of following his boss and trying to make good on his screw-up, but swiftly decided against it. She seemed to have an odd fondness for him, but it was perversely most obvious when he was in her power, having made some minor mistake. With his head in a complete spin from his confusing last night and his even more baffling morning, he had no faith in his ability to worm his way out of the hole he'd dug for himself.

'Keep your head down, dude,' chuckled Kiba as he strolled jauntily past, clearly not understanding how deep Shikamaru's problems went. 'You seem to be creating fuck-up's out of the nothing these days…'

'Tell me about it,' sighed Shikamaru, unable to stop himself from giving his friend a hard time, perhaps to finally have a hint of the familiar in his day. 'Finally starting to know how it feels to be you.'

Kiba raised a jaunty middle finger above his head as he disappeared round the corner, still laughing. Shikamaru couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy at his perpetually carefree friend, but was a shade too nice to actually dwell on the spiteful pang of emotion.

He dragged his feet over to his desk, seeing no point in further effort now that he was in the doghouse for tardiness to begin with.

On the way across the open-plan workspace, he received a vacant nod and half-smile from Choji, who looked up to his neck in paperwork, and a slightly more involved exchange with a scarily perceptive Sakura. The pink-haired lady caught a look at him as he passed her by the copier, and her face darkened the moment she saw his.

'Shit, dude,' she exclaimed in a typically unladylike fashion. 'I'm not sure I even want to know what happened to you last night…'

Shikamaru gratefully received a brief hug and a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder from his closest female friend, before setting off again.

'Full details at lunch,' he winced as he took his leave. 'We can go to that place you like.'

'Can't wait,' she smiled back, trying and failing to lighten her friend's bleak mood.

* * *

><p>'Why can't people just sell fucking sandwiches anymore,' exclaimed Kiba, groaning at the faux-chalkboard menu at the café the group had come to for lunch.<p>

'Just get on with it man,' grimaced Choji wryly, 'everyone else has ordered and sat down, and the entire street doesn't want to hear another episode of 'How the World should be, according to Kiba Inuzuka' before the turn of the century.

Kiba reluctantly handed a fiver over the counter and picked the first thing on the menu, before stomping over like an angry child and taking a seat with Choji, Shikamaru and Sakura.

'I'm just saying,' he started again, eliciting a round of groans from his captive audience. 'That menu has five different tortilla wraps, eight pastry bakes and a comprehensive list of fucking paninis. Can a man get a ham salad sandwich? Can he fuck!'

Sakura punched her belligerent neighbour hard on the arm, knowing that words would only set Kiba off further.

'Besides,' began Shikamaru, 'whatever you ended up ordering is going to end up with spit in it after the volume of that outburst.' Shikamaru's despairing levity had the desired effect, setting everyone off grinning, and leaving just the right amount of abashment on Kiba's indignant face.

'Anyways,' blustered Choji excitedly, 'rumours, gossip, scandal…' he flapped his arm at Shikamaru to signify 'et cetera'. 'Start the story, dude. What happened last night that's got you so bummed out?'

Shikamaru took a sip of his strong black coffee to give him a chance to gather his thoughts, promptly realising that he had no idea how to start to relay the events of the previous evening. 'I have to be honest guys; I don't feel great about the size of this audience…' Looking uncomfortable in the spotlight, the lazy man smiled ruefully at his best friends; bemused that for the first time in his life he couldn't admit something to the people he loved the most in the world. 'I thought I'd be able to have a quiet chat with Sakura, and then she'd let the news filter down to you guys gradually, and then next time we all met up everybody would be on the same page without the public inquiry…'

The others chuckled gently at his discomfiture, realising how much they had put their poor friend on the spot. A chorus of muttered apologies and pat on the shoulder from Choji calmed Shikamaru more than words could say, and he finally felt comfortable enough to recount his story. He spoke for a handful of minutes, surprised that such tumultuous events could be relayed so succinctly, but glad that his stream of consciousness confession was almost over before it began. When he came to the more graphic parts of the story, he was vague, trying to explain his thoughts and feelings whilst he was with Ino, rather than the actual activity, knowing that his friends wanted to understand his struggles, not hear a horrible, laddish tale of sexual conquest. To their credit, his friends were the best kind of audience. Quiet, attentive, and saving their thoughts and feelings 'til the end, knowing how difficult it already was for Shikamaru to come clean without constant interruptions or jokes, however well-intended they might have been.

'And then she left me alone in the apartment…' he finished quietly, adding an afterthought. 'Off to see her dad I think.'

A silence descended on the group at the resolution of the tale. Sakura let out a deep breath, which sounded like it had been held in the whole way through Shikamaru's speech. Choji patted his lazy friend on the shoulder again, for once at a loss for a kindly thing to say. Kiba merely sat back in his chair with his fingers linked at the back of his head, buried in shaggy hair. The brooding mood of the group seemed twice as bad, given the bustle of the background noise in the café.

The food arrived, piping hot, but no-one managed more than a few mouthfuls before silence and stillness reigned again.

'So Shika,' blurted out Kiba, tossing a few packets onto the table from his bag. 'What flavour crisps do you want?'

After a moment of almost panicked surprise, Shikamaru cracked a grin at the banality of the question. Sakura sniggered in its wake, and Choji was almost bent double in breathless laughter. A gale of chuckles broke out amongst the group, tears forming in the corners of creased eyes as all the tension of the past few minutes bled out of them, palpable in air as it dissipated.

Kiba came around first, chucking a random bag of crisps at Shikamaru opposite him, bringing the dark-haired man round from his hysterics.

'That was perfect, Kiba,' he grinned, still tense from laughing, 'just what we needed.'

With adrenaline racing around his body after the torrent of laughter, he felt he could handle anything. His friends carried on the conversation, knowing that Shikamaru would be able to deal with prying questions, and they'd finally be able to sort things out for him.

'But I don't get it, dude,' started Choji, stirring a lone spoonful of sugar into his coffee. 'You guys admitted your feelings for one another, she assured you that you weren't taking advantage…'

'You had lots of… 'fun'… together…' Sakura added, getting a snort of laughter out of Kiba at the pathetic euphemism. 'What went wrong between falling into blissful sleep like a pair of sex gods, to waking up all weird and distant?!'

'I bet it's the Kakashi thing,' muttered Kiba after his brief laughter had subsided. 'I mean, she told you to stop pussyfooting around the previous relationship, to stop using it as an excuse for not making a move. But maybe it _was_ too soon for her, and she didn't know it 'til the cold light of day this morning.'

'I'm not sure I buy that, Kiba,' said Sakura thoughtfully. 'From what Shikamaru said, all that Kakashi stuff was dealt with quite early on in the conversation. Seemed like she'd drawn a line under it before things even got close to being x-rated with Shikamaru…'

'Doesn't mean he's wrong,' noted Shikamaru. 'Could be the dad thing, though. Something about the way she said she was off to visit her dad made me think hospital, care home, whatever. You know?'

'You're not normally wrong with those sorts of hunches, dude,' muttered Kiba, shaking his head at how cutting his friend's insight could be sometimes.

Conversation lapsed briefly, before Choji spoke apropos of nothing. 'Restore point,' he mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich.

Sakura and Kiba both asked him what he was talking about simultaneously. He swallowed a humongous bite of his food before managing to reply.

'A restore point.'

'Is that a computer thing?' asked Sakura tentatively, trying not to let her technophobia show too overtly.

'Yes, Sakura,' said Choji with a jokingly withering tone. 'It's a computer thing. Fucking Luddite….'

Even with the obvious grin of friendly banter on Choji's face, Shikamaru sensed that Sakura might become a little over defensive of her computer illiteracy if he let things get out of hand.

'Go on then, Choji. Explain this restore point business.'

His well-built friend gave Sakura one last jokey smirk as he began his explanation. 'It's not even a complicated computer thing. You set up a restore point, and if the computer gets fucked, that's where it can restart from.'

Kiba had a look on his face like a monkey trying to do calculus.

'What the fuck does that have to do with Ino!? Or anything!?' he bellowed with characteristic ill-patience.

Choji laced his fingers in an arch above his food, leaning forward to keep the conversation private now that Kiba had done his best to attract the attention of everyone in the café. 'Well I'm going out on a limb here, but based on what Shikamaru has told us, here's what I'm thinking. Ino has got a lot on her mind, new job, cheating boyfriend, possibly an infirm father. Any one of those is stressful enough. Imagine on top of this, she's getting to know an interesting new bloke. She's smart enough to know that he's attracted to her, but maybe doesn't grasp that it's a little more serious than that for the guy. She invites him round for a chat, to try to sort her head out with some of the things going on in her life, and things get a little more saucy than she was expecting'

'Is this the part where the computer in your metaphor 'gets fucked'?' winked Kiba lewdly. Sakura smacked him on the back of the head, even as a self-indulgent smirk rose to her features at the crude joke. She waved magnanimously to Choji to continue whilst Kiba rubbed the back of his head, still with a twinkle of mirth in his brown eyes.

'Pretty much,' admitted Choji with a rueful smile. 'We all know how crazy Shikamaru is about her, though. Maybe she didn't. But now, after being that intimate with one another, there is no way she hasn't cottoned on. Maybe the realisation scares her. She has so much on her plate already and now someone is madly in love with her, and who knows, maybe she loves him back. It might have all been a bit too much.'

'System crash, restore point,' finished Shikamaru glumly, sitting back in his chair.

'She probably didn't even realise she'd done it,' added Choji as he began to focus back down on his huge sandwich.

Sakura gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze as Choji began to wolf down his sandwich as though he hadn't just dropped some serious wisdom on the group.

'Not a bad little theory, Choji,' she admitted. 'We'd better head back, guys. Choji will have to eat on the walk…'

The others grunted their agreement, their mood sagging at Shikamaru's bleak news. Even if Choji was right it wasn't the end of the world, but they'd definitely had happier conversations when out to lunch. Shikamaru in particular couldn't stop playing events over in his mind, trying to make all the pieces fit into something easier to understand.

_It's going to be a difficult few days…_ he muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru wouldn't prove to be proud of his actions over the next few days. In short, he went into something of an ostrich mode, burying his head in the sand, or in this case, his workload. He was operating on the most pathetic of principles, namely that if he never spoke with Ino, she'd have no chance to break his heart. As an intelligent and keenly self-aware man, it was twice as humiliating a behaviour to be guilty of, since he couldn't help but constantly reminding himself of his own cowardice.<p>

Two days passed by in a blur. His friends did their level best to cheer him up, but a dark mood had settled over Shikamaru, and even their ever-present kindnesses couldn't jolt him out of it entirely.

As always he, surprised himself with how much work he got done when he truly applied himself. One of the few and far between moments of brightness came as a result of this diligence. He had just sent off yet another completed report to his friend Neji, when he got a superbly dry response where his sardonic friend informed him that if he could maintain a constant state of heartache he'd be running a division of the company himself by the year's-end.

Such moments of black humour aside, Shikamaru's improved work ethic also brought less welcome interactions, among them, a snide barb from Sasuke informing him that his efforts would still not save him from the sack in the long run, and more worrying still, a congratulations from Director Tsunade which included a 'friendly' pat on the shoulder which lingered far longer than was appropriate, or comfortable. The former had been expected, a cruel comment from the haughty Uchiha accompanied most of the positive things he did at the company – and the negative things, in truth. Contact with his Director, however, was becoming more unprofessional by the day. Shikamaru couldn't fathom the mind of his voluptuous boss's actions, but was forced to put that growing problem on the back burner for the time being, given that he needed to devote all his time to his cowardly avoidance of thinking about anything Ino related.

This was proving as impossible as expected. Shikamaru's vivid imagination kept the alluring blonde in his thoughts even when she was nowhere to be found, and so when she returned to work the day after his café discussion with his friends, the difficult task became truly insurmountable.

He could confine himself to his cubicle and daydream about her, or he could venture out into the office space and accidentally catch a glimpse of her flaxen hair, or happen upon a gust of her perfect scent from across the open-plan room. It was a devil of a choice, and one which Shikamaru frequently floundered in making. Staying a recluse at his desk left him achingly empty, as though colour was being stolen from the world, but it was small punishment compared to the tightening in his chest whenever he allowed his eyes to stray over to steal a glance of the object of his affections.

Even if he tried to spare himself the heartache, they worked together, and it was impossible not to bump into her every now and then. As pathetic as Shikamaru's cowardly behaviour was, Ino's was something else entirely. She was polite and charming as usual, even chatty with Shikamaru's friends. It baffled him beyond words, and was actually more hurtful than the first morning when this distanced Ino had materialised. Ino and Shikamaru would greet one another, and trade a few banal questions from time to time, each exchange confusing him more and more. It was as though she had set the reset on their relationship, rewinding to before their night together.

Even with Choji's eloquent explanation for why she might have retreated into her shell running around his mind, Shikamaru couldn't shake his disbelief at how quickly things had gone wrong. Ino was brash and occasionally bossy, and she could be crude and deliciously impolite for the sake of humour, but cruelty had never featured in her personality before. And that's what this was – cruel. Shikamaru could find no other word for it. He had to make her understand how much she was hurting him, somehow.

_How the fuck are you supposed to do that, moron?_ Repeated his sarcastic subconscious mind for the umpteenth time, as he mulled his problems over in his agile mind, and failed to reach even a solitary conclusion.

A mixture of work-weariness and his lovesick thoughts had thoroughly drained Shikamaru of what little energy he had. After work on the second day he practically fled from the office, utilising every fibre of his being to avoid sleeping on the bus, and dreaming of nothing more than lying on his favourite sofa, and staring at the clouds in the murky sky until he forgot about everything else in his life, just for a time.

* * *

><p><em>Shikamaru sat back in one of the high stools at the breakfast bar in his apartment, feet stretched out on a second stool, with one hand propping his head up, and the other splayed out on the pleasantly cool marble of the countertop. His brown hair was tied back in his normal ponytail, but the tips of the hairs moved ever so slightly in the breeze, as faintly chilled air ghosted around the flat from the open balcony doors.<em>

_He was staring at a goddess._

_She was a goddess to him at least. It was ridiculously melodramatic, and he almost winced just to think it, but that was how he was coming to view Ino in his mind's eye._

_She lay on her stomach on the sofa, wearing an airy, diaphanous lilac dress, which had ridden scandalously high up her shapely legs as she shifted about whilst reading. Shikamaru's own novel had been forgotten as his breath was caught by the sight of her. Ino was still, deep blue eyes focussed steadily on the page before her as she propped herself up on her elbows. Her dress kept the arms open, and though it revealed no cleavage, it did bare a gorgeous expanse of creamy neck, and shapely collar bones. Shikamaru promised that he would kiss them the next time she would let him. It was an absurd thought, but then again, if anyone could have kissable collar bones, it would have been Ino._

_Her legs were always in movement, calves constantly but leisurely making small circles as they swapped, left on right and then right on left, over and over, almost hypnotically. She had painted her toenails purple again._

'_What d'you thinking you're looking at, Pineapple-head?' she murmured at Shikamaru, who was startled by her mellifluous voice filling the apartment after so long in unbroken silence. More surprising still, she hadn't even needed to look up to notice that he was watching her. 'You're distracting me,' she added, with an adorable crease of minor irritation on her otherwise flawless face._

'_Just you,' he placated, almost bursting out laughing as she stuck out her tongue at him, and responded in her bossy, overbearing manner._

'_Just me?! There is nothing 'just' about the great Ino Yamanaka…'_

_Shikamaru smirked at the line, flicking a quick middle finger up at his lover, and earning a giggle in return._

'Who died?' asked Shino in his usual deadpan, making the vivid scene dissipate around Shikamaru so suddenly that he shivered at the change in his surroundings. He was beginning to get worried about how realistic his daydreams were becoming. He dreaded to think what he would be like on hallucinogens if this was what his brain could do whilst stone-cold sober.

In real life, Shikamaru was on the sofa himself, hands behind his head, legs crossed on the opposite armrest. He had lost himself to his imagination whilst staring at a spider slowly but dextrously constructing its web in the corner of the room.

'Nothing, Shino,' he responded laboriously, stretching some life back into leaden limbs as he righted himself on the couch.

'If you say so,' he replied, clearly not buying a word of it. He placed a few shopping bags on the counter and began placing items into cupboards. 'Looks like more Ino drama to me, though,' he said, pausing for a moment in his activity. 'Don't worry if you don't want to talk about.'

Shikamaru let out a snort of ill-repressed laughter. 'Of course. It's not like Sakura has already explained everything to you already, is it?'

'Explained what?' Shino asked mildly, before turning back to his chore. For a second he fancied he could see a flicker of deception in his stoic friend's face, but of course he was mistaken. Shino's face was as impassive as ever.

'Shit,' said Shino with no inflection added to the curse. 'Forgot milk.'

Shikamaru noted the tell-tale unspoken signs of an impending chore. 'Shall I go get some, Shino?' he asked, dripping with the dry sarcasm he was known for.

'Why yes, Shikamaru. That would be ever so kind of you,' responded his flatmate without missing a beat. In his case it was the complete lack of tonality which made his over-the-top response utterly hilarious. No matter how clever Shikamaru might be, he never stood a chance against Shino in a verbal to-and-fro. That bland delivery just married up so well with his sense of humour.

The lazy man dragged himself to his feet, chuckling at his friend. He patted down his pocket to check for keys and wallet, and then made his way to the door, muttering a weak goodbye to Shino.

* * *

><p>In the overly-ventilated supermarket Shikamaru couldn't help but feel a little more alert, especially in the practically artic dairy aisle. He grabbed a couple of 4 pint bottles and laid them in his basket, joining the two chocolate bars and the large sharing bag of crisps which he had ended up grabbing. For such an intelligent man, he was an absolute sucker for impulse buying.<p>

He found himself near the back of the store, away from much of the bustle, but as he turned around to head towards the tills, he would have given anything for a crowd of people in which he could hide. Ino was no more than 20 paces away from him, placing a few items into her trolley. In a minor blessing, it appeared she hadn't noticed him. She was dressed down compared to how she looked at work, but somehow even managed to make that look alluring. In snug jeans and clean white daps, with a loose hoody enveloping her torso. Her hair was tied up, with her usual half-fringe, and a small purple stud nestled in each earlobe, matching the headphones which rested around her pale neck.

Shikamaru's mouth went dry, both from the surprise and trepidation of bumping into her, and from how goddamn adorable she looked, with her face slightly scrunched up to read the small-print on a carton of juice. _It's not fair to look that good all the damn time… _he thought to himself, releasing a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

Suddenly all the pieces fit into place. Ino was near the end of her shop, she had clearly been here a while, given the mountain of foodstuffs in her trolley. Shino had for the first time looked dishonest. He had just gotten back from the same supermarket and had sent Shikamaru to get the forgotten milk. Except Shino never forgot anything… The flabbergasted man internally berated himself for not having picked up on that fact. His lack of insight truly rammed home how much of a spin his mind had been in the past few days.

'Son of a bitch,' he swore at his scheming friend under his breath, not able to be truly annoyed given how clueless he'd been.

'What was that?' asked Ino, looking up at him with irritation, her expression fading into a stricken deer-in-the-headlights look as she realised it hadn't been a stranger who'd spoken, but Shikamaru. In a normal situation Shikamaru might have grinned internally at how closely his shocked face must have matched her own, but instead all he could manage was to blurt out, 'Huh?'

'Hey, Ino,' he recovered a second later, now swearing internally at Shino for having orchestrated such an embarrassing situation. 'You okay?' It was insipid, and he didn't speak with any conviction whatsoever, but it was better than saying nothing at all.

'Yeah, I guess so,' she responded with a start, brought back to the moment by his speech. 'How about you?'

The adrenaline surging through his system at the surprise of meeting her made him bolder than he would have been otherwise, although perhaps less wise.

'Not great, to be honest,' he waited for a response, to see if she would acknowledge the pall that had fallen between them since the morning two days beforehand. With no answer forthcoming, Shikamaru supplied another question, severely unnerved by finding Ino without words for the first time since he'd met her. 'What happened the other day, Ino?'

She swallowed before answering, leaning closer and speaking with the smallest voice he'd ever heard from her. 'I… I don't… Not here, Shikamaru.'

Her eyes stopped short of pleading with him, but even an idiot could see she was hugely uncomfortable with the situation. Shikamaru wouldn't stop there, though. For the first time in his life he couldn't work out a problem for himself. He felt like he had the information, but was just not able to put them into place, or to work out the deeper meaning. It was a strange, alien feeling, made ten times worse given that the problem wasn't just analytical, but something which dealt with the deepest emotions he had.

'Why not? We're the only people in the aisle.'

Ino frowned at this, just a glimmer of her feisty temperament coming to the fore at his refusal to back down. Shikamaru shut it down before she had a chance to speak.

'I have spent the last two days feeling like shit,' he began, with quiet intensity. When he had moved to speak, he hadn't had a clue about exactly what he wanted to say, but the moment he spoke the first word it was as if floodgates had opened and he found he couldn't stop himself from going on. 'I have felt confused, accused and blamed. Trouble is, I can't for the life of me work out what I'm being accused of or what I'm blamed for. That night was perfect. You felt that as well. I'm having a really hard time wondering what the fuck I did wrong, Ino.'

'I don't know what to say,' whispered Ino, looking stricken and truly lost for words. Shikamaru knew that he should stop and let her catch up with the conversation, but he was wounded and carried on heedless of better sense.

'I haven't done anything wrong, Ino. So I'm struggling to work out what you imagine I've done. I liked you from the moment I saw you, but I acted as a friend. I didn't push, I wasn't overly forward. Then I found out you had a boyfriend, and I took it hard. I still didn't say anything. You broke up with him. I offered comfort and friendship, I kept my distance, as much as it hurt me.'

He had placed his basket on the floor, and stood with his face barely away from hers. It wasn't a threatening display, nor a loud rant. He merely kept speaking in a low voice, hands by his sides passively, staring at Ino's face, unable to stop the tide of feelings and words now that the dam had burst.

'Everything that happened that night came from you. I didn't resist – I'll admit that. A better man than me would have refused the wine, and wouldn't have started that first kiss, but I couldn't. But it was you. You told me not to treat you so delicately about your break-up at the party. You invited me over. You opened the wine. You constantly probed me about my feelings about you. And you didn't stop me kissing you.'

Ino was mute now, no longer trying to interject with her own thoughts. Shikamaru was infinitely glad of the fact, as the pure relief and catharsis he was feeling after a week of stress and over-thinking couldn't be bought by anything other than a complete confession.

'I love you, Ino. If by some miracle you didn't know that already, you know now. If you don't feel the same, then fine. God knows you don't owe me a damn thing. That'll be my problem to deal with. But I think you do. The look in your eyes, the look all over your face that entire night. I don't think even a _moron_ like me could have misread that.'

The smallest hint of a smile touched the corner of her lip as he used her favourite insult to describe himself, but it was gone nearly before it began, lost in the sea of an almost mortified expression.

'And if you do love me back, then you need to say something soon, because what you're doing now is cruel. The way you behaved that morning? You can't do that to people, Ino. The least you owe them is an explanation - whether it's your dad, or your job, or Kakashi or whatever else besides. I'm not an arsehole. Whatever your feelings about me, I will be a friend to you through those problems. But I have to know. You can't keep doing _this_.'

As he spoke the last word he moved his finger back and forth between them. Shikamaru fancied he might have seen a flicker of shock rippled across her face as he mentioned her dad, and the more analytical part of his brain told him that his guess about her father's health had been right on the money.

'I think that's all I wanted to say,' he muttered, looking at the floor. It seemed like all the animation had fled his body, leaving him somehow drawn and hollow. He pulled his gaze away from the cold tiling and back up to Ino's face. Her expression had lost some of its shock in the wake of his outburst, but she still seemed unable to string together a sentence.

A final gambit entered Shikamaru's mind, and his recent exhilarating outpouring of emotion had left him more confident than ever before in his life. In a move that would go down in his personal history as the most out of character in life, he tilted Ino's chin upwards with a single knuckle and captured her mouth in a kiss.

She gave a small coo of surprise at the sudden contact, her head shifting slightly to the side before she even noticed what had happened. The kiss was quick and utterly unexpected, but gentle at first. When no immediate protests were made, Shikamaru deepened the exchange, marvelled in the taste and warmth of her. Two days was far too long to go without a kiss like this.

His hands brought them closer together, one tight around her hip, the other at her cheek, but neither constricting. As his tongue quested forwards he was surprised to find her mouth open and welcoming, hers meeting his as he explored her mouth. The kiss had to end sooner or later and so Shikamaru kissed her breathless, the action becoming more impassioned and needy by the second, stopping just short of being overbearing or uncomfortable.

Ino was more passive than she had been during any of their kisses that first night, but she was by no means a captive, kissing in return, with her fists bunched in the fabric of Shikamaru's pressed blue shirt at his chest.

All too soon the kiss came to an end, after she gave the barest hint of a push with her clenched hands. It might have meant nothing, but Shikamaru knew he was already pushing the boundaries as far as they'd go and was also painfully aware that if he didn't stop now, it would be all the more difficult to do so in the future.

He stepped back, releasing her from the embraced they'd shared, and watching her eyes flutter open on her slightly flushed face. A warm breath escaped from her slightly parted lips, just barely swollen from the kiss he'd stolen.

Once again Shikamaru spoke before she had a chance to gather her thoughts.

'Just in case you weren't sure or you'd somehow managed to let it pass you by. _That's_ how I feel about you.' He locked stares with her as he finished, searching for any sign, positive or negative, in the azure depths, and finding nothing. 'Do what you want with it.'

His last utterance was almost bitter, but more than anything was filled with a desperate, longing strength. Shikamaru didn't normally wear his heart so clearly on his sleeve, preferring to hide his feelings behind a veil of sarcasm and apathy. What he'd just done was an utterly alien experience for him, and left him drained both physically and emotionally. He hadn't even noticed the handful of people who'd been in his proximity during the kiss, such was his focus on the blonde woman before him.

'Hope I see you soon, Ino,' he murmured, sounding thoroughly defeated now that all his vigour and emotion had been tapped. He turned to leave, trudging towards the exit without haste, when her voice stopped him in his tracks.

'Shikamaru.'

His imagination added inflection to utterance where there was none, until his more perceptive mind stripped away the self-deception to hear the terrible absence of emotion her voice had held. He turned slowly, almost knowing what he'd see before his eyes registered it. Ino stood before him, still rooted to the spot where he'd stolen her kiss. Her face was curiously impassive, just as it had been before she'd left the apartment that first damn morning. It wasn't Shino's blank mask, nor a less stoic person's attempt at something similar. It was impassiveness born of confusion. In the same way that all the colours of the spectrum can be said to be found in plain white light, in her face worry and love, anger and fear, longing and desperation, blended into the expression she wore as Shikamaru walked back over to her to reach out take his abandoned basket of milk and shitty snack food from her weak grip.

'Your shopping basket,' she said, with tiredness in her voice. Perhaps the intensity of his feelings had wearied her as much as they had done for him. As she spoke, the smallest crack in her mask showed through her eyes, melting the harsh nothingness of her expression into something at least halfway bearable. Shikamaru took this tiny crumb of comfort with him as he turned away.

'I know, Ino.' He smiled, as he turned away, his mind filled with humour utterly inappropriate to the situation, as he heard the strangely adorable tone to her proclamation.

The smile faded quickly as he walked down the frigid aisle, finally realising how cold he had gotten whilst standing still for so long. He daren't look back to see Ino again. He already felt like his heart was tearing in his chest, but a small flutter of pride burned deep inside him, doing what it could to heal his hurts. He had spoken his mind. He had explained his feelings. He had been confident for once.

The snide internal commentary voice which so often needled at him in times of trouble, sarcastically quipping at his moments of weakness, chimed in sounding nearly as tired as he felt himself, and devoid of the usual condescension.

_You did your best, mate… _He thought to himself, _All you can do is wait and see…_

* * *

><p>Hello! Sorry for taking the piss with writing this one. Real life constantly getting in the way, as usual.<p>

Hope you enjoy the latest instalment. It's a nice long chapter, and a fair bit of stuff happens. I know that doesn't make up for the year of absence but it can't hurt. It starts off with the conclusion of the sex-scene from chapter 11. I was having trouble getting it to read correctly, hence it didn't make it into chapter 11. Lucky you, you get to read it here instead. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I experimented with getting a bit of Ino's perspective into the storyline this time around. Since her and Shikamaru's relationship has gotten a lot more involved, it makes sense for us to find out what she's thinking.

We end this on a little bit of a low point. If something bad didn't happen then the story would be over, so there had to be a bit more drama in Drama Inc. Tough it out, Shikamaru. Things will take a turn for the better soon enough!

Many thanks to DoomGuard60 for the proof-read and sense check!

Cheers!


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